A glossy Christmas rom-com with a few committed performances and some unintentionally memorable choices, but the writing is too thin and the premise too strained to sustain the runtime. It plays more like background holiday content than a must-see seasonal comedy.
5% ☆☆☆☆☆ (207,743)
Our Little Secret
Where to watch: Netflix
Movie · Romance · Comedy · PG-13
2024 · 1h 41m · ★ 5% (207.7K)
Have yourself a very awkward ex-mas.
Director: Stephen Herek
Starring: Lindsay Lohan, Ian Harding, Kristin Chenoweth
Overview
After discovering their significant others are siblings, two resentful exes must spend Christmas under one roof — while hiding their romantic history.
Director
Stephen Herek
Production
Capital Arts Entertainment, Good Entertainment
Cast
Lindsay Lohan, Ian Harding, Kristin Chenoweth, Jon Rudnitsky, Dan Bucatinsky, Jake Brennan, Judy Reyes, Katie Baker, Tim Meadows, Ash Santos, Henry Czerny, Bobbie Eakes, Brian Unger, Chris Parnell, Melinda Tanner, Mim Drew, Kurt Yue, Nathan Alexander Tutterrow, Jade Fernandez, Kimberly Donyale
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A glossy Christmas rom-com with a few committed performances and some unintentionally memorable choices, but the writing is too thin and the premise too strained to sustain the runtime. It plays more like background holiday content than a must-see seasonal comedy.
Best for
Viewers who want a low-stakes Christmas movie on streaming
Fans of Lindsay Lohan’s holiday-comedy comeback
People who enjoy messy, high-concept rom-com premises
Audiences amused by campy, overstuffed festive movies
Skip if
You want sharp dialogue or strong romantic chemistry
You dislike contrived misunderstandings and thin character writing
You prefer holiday films with warmth and emotional depth
You are sensitive to age-gap casting or awkward romantic framing
Overview
Our Little Secret is built on a very simple engine: exes, siblings, Christmas, and a house full of secrets. That setup promises farce, but the movie mostly settles for familiar streaming-romcom rhythms, with a few bursts of absurdity that are more amusing than genuinely funny.
Worth noting
The cast does what it can with the material. Lindsay Lohan brings enough star presence to keep things watchable, and Kristin Chenoweth adds some welcome comic snap, but the script rarely gives them anything surprising to play. The result is a movie that feels engineered for seasonal autoplay rather than real affection.
Bottom line
What lingers most is the odd, almost accidental chaos of it all: the weird opening credits, the time-passage montage, the sense that the film is more interested in vibes than coherence. If you like your Christmas rom-coms a little tacky and a little unhinged, there’s some novelty here. Otherwise, it’s easy to let this one pass by.
Top Letterboxd reviews
Jasmine (2.5★) · 8345 likes
Dating a much younger woman?… Close enough, welcome back Ezra Fitz!
Ivy (3★) · 5786 likes
Most insane opening credits to a romcom EVER??
joe (3★) · 3566 likes
I want a lindsay lohan christmas romcom every year now
ash (2.5★) · 3213 likes
Worth watching for the inexplicable opening credits alone, which features (I kid you not) a montage of major pop culture moments over the past decade - none of which have anything to do with the film - set to Calvin Harris’ ‘Summer.’
Framesofnick (2★) · 2909 likes
made me realize Hamilton is older than gay marriage. Like wow
2004 · Comedy, Family · 1h 39m · Where to watch: Amazon Video, Apple TV Store, Google Play Movies, YouTube, Fandango At Home, Spectrum On Demand, Plex, Kanopy, Hoopla
A broad holiday comedy about domestic disruption, social embarrassment, and seasonal mayhem.