Stream It or Skip It: ‘Single All the Way’ on Netflix Just May Be the Best Holiday Romcom of 2021

Single All the Way is more than just a new Netflix romcom. It’s the first Netflix holiday movie with gay leads looking for love. It’s got all the ribbons and bows of a traditional Hallmark movie, but does Single All the Way sparkle brighter than its basic cable counterparts? Or should this gift have been left in the closet?

SINGLE ALL THE WAY: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Michael Urie plays Peter, an advertising assistant to an unseen nightmare boss who specializes in thirst trap sponsored posts targeting Insta-gays. Peter’s real passion is for plants—and not just because his relationships with flora last way longer than any he’s ever had with a man. After Peter suffers another disastrous breakup, he convinces his roommate and bestie Nick (Philemon Chambers) to spend Christmas with his family back in New Hampshire—and also pose as his boyfriend because Peter really wants his family to stop viewing him as a loser at love.

There’s a slight wrinkle to the plan, though: Peter’s mom Carole—I mean Christmas Carole, played by Kathy Najimy—has already set her son up on a blind date with her trainer (Luke Macfarlane). Even worse: Nick tells Peter he should on on the blind date before Peter can start spinning a web of lies about their fake relationship. But Peter’s mom ain’t the only one obsessed with Peter’s dating life. Pretty soon, the rest of the family is convinced that Nick is actually the man for Peter—and they are gonna make sure that these two fall in love no matter what.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Single All the Way takes all the large family vibes of a Family Stone, pairs it with the coziness of a Hallmark romance, and serves all the laughs of Netflix’s hip holiday comedies, like Holidate or Love Hard.

Performance Worth Watching: Really, which performance isn’t worth watching? The movie is stacked with a cast of pros who know how to make anything and everything funny. Obviously there’s Kathy Najimy and Jennifer Coolidge, two angels of the gay canon, who play polar opposite sisters. Each character feels completely tailored to Najimy and Coolidge’s strengths. Najimy is an overachiever, Type A mom who loves making those home decor signs that moms buy in bulk from TJ Maxx (One reads: “Relax—we’re all crazy. It’s not a competition”).

Coolidge’s Sandy is a grandiose theater maven who loves leopard print and drawing attention. I could watch Coolidge shout at kids during Christmas pageant rehearsal forever.

But I also have to shout out Jennifer Robertson, hot off a stint as Jocelyn on Schitt’s Creek. She plays Peter’s sister Lisa with a whole lot of pent up anxiety, which she hides under a big ol’ grin at all times. Honestly, there’s a whole movie to be had starring Najimy and Robertson as a mom and daughter who are way too alike.

Memorable Dialogue: When Peter floats the idea of moving back to New Hampshire early in the film, his roommate Nick wonders why he’d want to give up the buffet of gay men in LA. Peter’s reply: “The all-you-can-eat buffer in Los Angeles has served me nothing but 7 heartbreaks, a mountain of therapy debt, and a chipped tooth.” There’s also Carole continually repeating advice she read in the book Loving Your LGBTTT Child.

A Holiday Tradition: Carole insists on being called Christmas Carole all December long—and she is not afraid to correct you. Sandy (Coolidge) also puts together a Christmas pageant every year, and it’s every bit as extra as you’d expect.

Does the Title Make Any Sense?: It does—and it’s wild that it hasn’t been taken yet. There’s Jingle All the Way, obviously, and the 2018 Hallmark movie Mingle All the Way—which was about a dating app. If any movie was gonna be called Single All the Way, this is it!

Our Take: You really never know what you’re gonna get with a Netflix holiday movie. They could be genuinely funny like Love Hard, mind-blowingly bananas like The Princess Switch 3: Romancing the Star, or flat-out unwatchable like Father Christmas is Back. So with Single All the Way—sure, it looks fantastic, but the film could be lazily cheesy, be stuffed with bad jokes, or give top-tier talents like Najimy and Coolidge nothing to do.

That’s why I’m beside myself giddy to report that Single All the Way is a helluva serve. It is everything you want from holiday romcom—and more. The story works, the performances are superb, the chemistry is there, the feels are present, and every joke lands. It’s not just guilty pleasure good like A Christmas Prince, and it doesn’t earn points by being uncharacteristically bawdy like Holidate. This is a genuinely romantic holiday film that is also genuinely funny, no caveats. The film succeeds in part because of Coolidge and Najimy, who both get even more sincerely laugh-out-loud moments than you expect.

But we gotta talk about how great Michael Urie is in this role. Urie, as adorable and funny and awkward and charismatic as ever, is such a perfect fit for this film. He’s such a perfect fit that it feels like Urie’s been waiting around for this specific genre to be created.

He’s playing the kind of character that is usually reserved for the Lacey Chaberts and Candace Cameron Bures out there, and these are roles that never go to men because gay Christmas movies didn’t really exist en masse until last year. That’s why it’s so damn delightful seeing Urie find material that so caters to his natural talent, his ability to be snarky and sweet at once.

And the chemistry with Philemon Chambers? Off the charts—and it actually doesn’t start that way. It builds, just like the story demands. You watch these two BFFs realize they could be BFs and it never feels unearned. It actually feels surprising—if you go into the film knowing nothing about the plot. If you’ve read this far then, well, I’ve robbed you of that opportunity.

Overall, Single All the Way delivers the laughs and the feels. It’s nothing short of a Christmas romcom miracle.

Our Call: STREAM IT, and let’s hope that Urie and Chambers get gay holiday romance movies every year from now on.

Stream Single All the Way on Netflix