Netflix’s Christmas 2025 is preparing to be tinged with irony and melancholy with “Merry Christmas-ex”, a romantic comedy with a bitter aftertaste, directed by Steve Carr and written by Holly Hester. The protagonists are two icons of the 90s: Alicia Silverstone and Melissa Joan Hart, also producers of the film. Far from the usual Christmas clichés, the feature film aims to lightly and sincerely tell the fragility of bonds and the difficulty of letting go of someone you really love.
Merry Christmas-ex: the plot
Kate and Everett are recently separated, but decide to spend one last Christmas together with their children before the woman sells the family home and starts over. The plan seems simple: a peaceful Christmas with obvious smiles for the occasion. Everything changes, however, when Everett shows up with his new and charming girlfriend: wounded in pride, Kate reacts by pretending to have moved on and invents a new partner so as not to lose face. The misunderstandings give rise to gags, embarrassments and the house turns into an emotional battlefield, where every memory becomes a fuse ready to explode. Even when love ends – the film seems to tell us – feelings remain, and the holidays can become the most difficult time of the year to hide it.
Filmed in Toronto, “Merry Christmas-ex” is produced by Hartbreak Films, Melissa and Paula Hart’s production company. Unlike classic Christmas comedies based on miracles and perfect reconciliations, this film wants to talk about second chances, but also about acceptance, showing that the true magic of Christmas can simply consist in knowing how to live with what is no longer.
Merry Christmas-ex: the cast
Alicia Silverstone is Kate, the ironic and vulnerable protagonist; Oliver Hudson plays Everett, the disarmingly charming ex-husband; Jameela Jamil is Everett’s new partner, irresistible and impertinent; Pierson Fodé and Melissa Joan Hart complete the cast.
The film also features Oliver’s real-life son Wilder Hudson, making his acting debut, and Alicia Silverstone’s son, Bear, in a fun cameo.
Merry Christmas-ex: when it comes out on Netflix
The film arrives on Netflix on November 12, 2025, inaugurating the platform’s Christmas season early.
Merry Christmas-ex: the Italian trailer
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