Snowy weather is at the forefront of conversations when winter begins. The snow brings people together through the multiple activities that can be done in this weather. Netflix’s new movie Let It Snow, which was released on November 8th, is a bland attempt at a romantic comedy that takes the audience into a small midwestern town on Christmas Eve as a massive snowstorm hits.

This film, which is based off the book of the same title, follows a group of teenagers that are trying to figure out their lives as a blizzard ravages through their town. Julie Reyes (Isabela Merced) is struggling with the decision to either go to college or stay with her sick mom. She meets music star Stuart Bale (Shameik Moore), who wants some reality in his fantasy celebrity life. Addie (Odeya Rush) is under the impression that her boyfriend is cheating on her and pushes away her best friend Dorrie (Liv Hewson) for trying to help. 

All the while, Dorrie is trying to figure out if she wants to be with Tegan (Anna Akana). Tobin (Mitchell Hope) is in love with his best friend Angie (Kiernan Shipka), but he is afraid to tell her. Most of the characters are connected by living in the same town and presumably going to the same school. Their storylines intertwine towards the end of the film.

Cheesy romantic comedies are not my type of movie. I find seeing the same “in love with my best friend” or “should I stay or go” storylines exhausting. There’s nothing new, which makes seeing this over and over again boring. This movie is partially an example of a basic rom-com. A few of the stories were very predictable and felt like they had been done a billion times. The others were semi-interesting, like the plotline of Julie not caring that Stuart is a huge superstar and eventually growing to like him for who he is.

The film as a whole was cliche with its love declarations and constant chasing of a significant other. It felt like the people who created this movie decided that they were going to make the easiest and most cheesy movie they could, likely in hopes of appeasing an audience that finds that enjoyable. Unfortunately, it didn’t fit my taste.

Comedic elements of movies are hard to execute today because of the unique humor of the newer generations. Let It Snow tried to incorporate comedy, but it came off mediocre. I could see their attempts to make the movie more laughable, however I don’t think it was enough. An example of a comedic aspect that I think missed the mark was when they went to the restaurant “Waffle Town” and made a joke about the “W” falling of the sign deeming it “Awful Town.” This was definitely an attempt, but it wasn’t humorous in the slightest. 

I want to watch a movie and connect with the characters, however that’s almost impossible to do when the characters have little to no personality. Overall, the teenagers in the movie were very bland. There was character development, but it was very predictable how and when the characters were going to reinvent themselves. After watching the movie, I couldn’t remember any of their names or any parts of their personality. Movies should be made to relate the characters to the younger people watching. This movie wasn’t relatable and was very minimal when it came to the characters’ development.

An element of this movie that I did enjoy was the way all the stories came together at the end. Not to spoil each’s conclusion, but all the characters end up at the same party. This party gives each plotline the chance to wrap up nicely. It gives the audience the ability to see how the characters know each other and how they interact. Following a few different stories at once then seeing them wrapped up altogether was very engaging and satisfying.

I was also pleased by the theme of the story. Snow is able to bring people together and creates joy. The story shows that unexpected friendships and relationships can be made due to inclimate weather. It also emphasized the Christmas season being a bonding time for people. The movie takes place on Christmas Eve and shows how the spirit of this holiday provides joy and a feeling of togetherness to everyone who celebrates it. Many are fond of this season and do believe that it’s a time to spend with family and friends, which was a focal point of the film.

Netflix needs to find new ways of creating rom-com stories that are engaging. They all are starting to blend together. This movie wasn’t anything new, as it was basically different basic storylines altogether in one movie. I can see what they were trying to do when making this movie. It was just done in a very lackluster way. The comedic instances lacked in actual humor. I was more likely to laugh at the cheesiness of it all than the actual jokes. The characters were dull and lacked personalities that the audience could connect with. 

2/5 stars