There’s no better holiday tradition than watching a Lindsay Lohan Christmas movie. I enjoyed Falling for Christmas for what it was – a campy Christmas treat. I didn’t enjoy Irish Wish as much, so I wasn’t sure where I would land when it comes to Our Little Secret. Our Little Secret’s a bit light on the romance, but it performs better than some of these soulless Netflix Christmas fare mainly because the lead characters feel slightly more real than the paper-thin cutouts we usually get.
Avery (Lindsay Lohan) and Logan (Ian Harding) are best friends who fell in love with each other, but then Avery decides to move away for school to a whole other continent. Logan, who assumed that they were going to be together for the rest of their lives, is understandably upset that she made this choice without any consideration of their future. In the moment, they both say hurtful things they don’t mean, but that becomes the straw that breaks the camel’s back. They spend the next decade apart, and when we meet them again, they’re both dating other people.
This is, coincidentally, what brings them back into each other’s lives again. Logan is dating Cassie (Katie Baker), and Avery is dating Cameron (Jonathan Rudnitsky), Cassie’s brother. They reunite at Cassie and Cameron’s family gathering, and Avery decides the best thing is for them to pretend that they don’t know each other. She’s already on thin ice with Cameron’s mom Erica (Kristin Chenoweth), so she doesn’t want to add to the mess. While Christmas tree hunting, Logan offers to help Avery get on the good side of Erica, if she helps him with his business proposal in return.
There are some fun comedic set pieces, like when Avery accidentally gets high before having to give a serious reading in church, but then there are the ones that feel a little dark and messy. Watching everything unfold may tickle the viewer in the moment – fascination with the abomination if you will – but when you pause to really think about these moments, it feels a bit sad and disturbing. If you enjoy a little mean-spirited energy to your holiday movies – à la The Family Stone – you may vibe a little more than I did with those elements of Our Little Secret.
I liked the quieter moments of the film more, where we get to see the years of friendship play out in Logan and Avery’s relationship, and how they can be there for each other even when they’re not together. Harding’s expressions and performance feels very 2000s rom-com Ryan Reynolds, which is the kind of energy needed to carry a film like this. Always great to see Henry Czerny, even in a minor role here as Avery’s father.
Will it be a Christmas classic? No, but hey, I had fun, and maybe that’s all we really need in a Christmas rom-com.
REVIEW SCORE: 3/5
