Netflix makes mistakes for the second year in a row with a Christmas film that looks more like horror

(Warning: this text contains spoilers) An Ex-special Christmas entered Netflix as one of the main highlights of Christmas programming this year, even more so due to the attraction of the presence of Alicia Silverstone – the iconic Cher from The Precious Girls of Beverly Hills (1995). But the film seems more like a horror when it shows the protagonist giving up her own career not once, but twice, to prioritize her husband’s happiness, something that is no longer in keeping with the feminist advances in today’s world.

At the beginning of the story, Kate (Alicia Silverstone) says that she left her promising career as an architect to move to a small town with her husband, Everett (Oliver Hudson), with whom she had two children.

Despite having set up a handyman business and prospered working in repairs, she makes it very clear that she never really liked living in that city. Even more so having to take care of the children practically alone, as her husband was always at the doctor’s office.

Therefore, after the divorce, Kate plans to sell the house and move to Boston as soon as the youngest goes to college. Before resuming her dreams, she just wants to live one last perfect Christmas with her family.

But everything starts to go wrong when he discovers that Tess (Jameela Jamil), Everett’s new girlfriend, is also going to participate in the year-end parties. Kate is intimidated by her “rival”, more beautiful, younger and successful. However, the protagonist also ends up getting involved with a younger boy: Chet (Pierson Fodé). Family Christmas turns into a big mess.

But what really bothers us throughout the narrative is noticing how little attention everyone pays to the traditions maintained by Kate. The children soon prioritize expensive gifts from their new stepmother and leave their mother aside.

Everything gets worse when the protagonist reveals her desire to return to work as an architect in Boston. She is judged and even seen as selfish for wanting to sell her house and leave the small town, as if she hadn’t already given up on her dreams for more than 20 years.

In the end, instead of moving forward with her plans, Kate gives in and goes back, transforming the film into a disservice. She even resumes her marriage to Everett, in what should be a “happily ever after”.

But it leaves a bitter taste to see yet another woman giving up her goals for a husband who hasn’t prioritized her in so many years. If the couple were to get together again, couldn’t he be the one to give in at least this time?

Last year, Netflix had already slipped up on the issue with In the Rhythm of Christmas. The film has all the elements to be a perfect Christmas romantic comedy. But it also appeals to the outdated cliché of the woman who puts her dreams aside to be with the small town heartthrob.

Watch the trailer for An Ex-special Christmas: