Romantic comedies are like hot cocoa in movie form. They may not always reinvent the wheel, but when they are done right, they leave you with a smile, a sigh, and maybe even the urge to text someone you swore you would never text again. Elizabeth Guest’s Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off is one such delightful holiday rom-com that sneaks up on you, wraps you in a blanket, and whispers “hey, it is okay to be a little messy.” It is not just a fun Christmas season film, but also a sweet reminder about love, family, and perhaps most importantly, yourself.
The film follows Lydia, played by Elizabeth Guest herself, who has a complicated history with relationships. In fact, she identifies as a love addict. I will be honest, I was not even aware that “love addict” was a term until watching this movie. But after spending ninety minutes with Lydia, I not only believe it, I feel like I have known several people in my life who might fall under the same category. No judgment, of course. In fact, the film’s brilliance lies in how relatable Lydia’s anxieties are. Her panic, her spiraling, her fear of commitment even when she has finally found a good thing. It all feels deeply human and instantly recognizable.
When Lydia’s sweet, reliable boyfriend Tim (Andrew Leeds) proposes in a snow-globe-worthy Christmas-in-New-York moment, she completely freaks out. Rather than leaning into this fairytale, she bolts. Not just emotionally, but literally, hopping coasts and heading back to Los Angeles. This is where the film really kicks into gear. Because in L.A. we meet her very unique family situation: four parents. Yes, four. Two sets of divorced but still very involved parents who all get their turn in trying to “fix” Lydia. And let me tell you, the parental dynamics here are as quirky as they are warm. At times they hover a little too close, but their messy love feels so authentic. You laugh, you cringe, and at least once, you probably think, “yep, that is exactly something my mom would do.”
Elizabeth Guest is fantastic as Lydia. Even with all of her neurosis and paranoia, she remains incredibly likeable. She is not the manic pixie dream girl stereotype we have seen a million times before, nor is she a completely broken soul who needs saving. She is a little chaotic, a little selfish, often funny without realizing it, and consistently vulnerable. Guest captures all of this with sharp comedic timing and genuine heart. Honestly, this is the kind of performance that makes you want to follow the character beyond the credits. I almost want to check in on Lydia a few years down the line, just to see where life takes her.
One of the film’s strongest beats comes in Lydia’s relationship with her mother. It is tender, complicated, and deeply relatable. Moms can be nosy, and Lydia’s mom is no exception, but the warmth in their bond is undeniable. In those moments, the film feels like it has cracked open something very real, something that many of us have lived through in one form or another. The mix of frustration and love is perfectly captured.
Of course, the rom-com structure means there are plenty of misunderstandings, missteps, and holiday hijinks. At one point, Lydia’s parents decide to host a New Year’s Eve party and invite every eligible bachelor they know. This sequence is as hilarious as it is chaotic, and it gives Lydia the chance to confront the whirlwind of her choices head-on. By the time Tim reappears, the stage is perfectly set for a heartfelt reckoning.
Now, I will admit, the film does get a bit repetitive in the middle. The second act flirts with dragging, as Lydia’s self-sabotaging tendencies replay themselves more than once. But even then, the film never loses its charm. The credit here goes fully to Guest’s performance. She keeps us hooked. Lydia may frustrate us, but we are rooting for her all the same. There is something magnetic about how Guest plays her that makes even the repetitive beats feel more like the familiar cycles of a real person trying, failing, and trying again.
As a debut feature, this is such a heartfelt statement of intent from Elizabeth Guest. Not only does she write and direct with confidence, but she also anchors the film as its lead, which is no easy task. The script balances humor and honesty in a way that feels authentic. Guest is clearly inspired by the screwball traditions of classic rom-coms, but she also manages to inject her own modern, messy flavor. You can feel the DNA of It Happened One Night, Notting Hill, and Bridget Jones’s Diary in here, but it never plays like a hollow tribute. Instead, it feels like a continuation of that lineage, updated for a generation that is still figuring out self-love in the middle of swipe culture and endless relationship anxiety.
The message of self-love is one that could easily come off as cliché, but the way it is presented here feels fresh. The film never shouts it at you. Instead, it gently nudges you into realizing that Lydia’s biggest problem is not Tim, not her parents, not the suitors at the party. It is her inability to be okay with herself. And that is something that most of us, at some point, have struggled with. By the end, when Lydia finally begins to understand that she has to love herself before she can fully love someone else, the film lands its emotional punch. It is not sappy, it is not heavy-handed. It just feels true.
The ensemble cast deserves plenty of credit as well. The four parents bring so much warmth and humor to the film that you can imagine a whole spin-off just about their lives. Andrew Leeds as Tim is perfectly cast, playing the kind of reliable boyfriend who could easily have been boring in less capable hands, but here he becomes someone worth rooting for. And the supporting characters at the New Year’s Eve party bring just the right amount of ridiculousness to the mix.
There are plenty of rom-coms that come and go, but Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off feels like the kind of film that people will stumble upon year after year and keep watching. It is wholesome, it is funny, and it is heartfelt. The movie acknowledges that love is messy, that nobody comes out unscathed, and yet it still leaves you with hope. That balance is rare, and Guest nails it.
By the time the credits roll, you may not only feel like you know Lydia, you may also find yourself reflecting on your own relationships, your own anxieties, and maybe even your own parents. The film may not reinvent the rom-com, but it does something just as valuable. It makes you feel seen, it makes you laugh, and it sends you out into the world a little lighter.
So grab that hot cocoa, maybe even two, and cozy up with Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off. It is messy in all the right ways, and it is exactly the kind of holiday film we need more of.
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