The Holiday List 2024

Two women, two worlds, one holiday season that changes everything. In London, Iris Simpkins, a sharp society columnist for The Daily Telegraph, finds her heart stuck on her ex, Jasper Bloom, even as he moves forward with a new engagement. When Jasper inevitably reappears at the company party and Iris learns of his engagement, the pain of being kept close under the guise of friendship becomes overwhelming, shattering her holiday spirit. Across the ocean, Amanda Woods—the proprietor of a film trailer company in Los Angeles—faces a similar heartbreak after discovering her boyfriend Ethan’s infidelity and emotional distance. A chance connection via a house-swap website brings Amanda to Iris’s Surrey cottage, and the two decide to exchange homes for two weeks, hoping a change of scenery can reset what feels broken.

A quiet English countryside, a starkly different pace, and the first spark of unlikely kinship. Iris settles into Amanda’s grand, tranquil home with a genuine sense of relief, savoring the chance to breathe away from London’s social whirl. Amanda, however, struggles with the silence and stillness of the English countryside, feeling unmoored and uncertain in a setting so unlike her life in Los Angeles. The arrival of Iris’s brother, Graham, who shows up after a night of heavy drinking, adds a new dynamic to the cottage’s already delicate balance. A risk is taken in a moment of vulnerability when Graham unexpectedly kisses Amanda, and she, feeling that life may still offer surprises, suggests they explore a possible connection. The next morning brings a surprising truth: Graham is a widower with two young daughters, Sophie and Olivia, and he has been purposefully keeping his children and his romantic life shadowed to protect them. He explains that he compartmentalizes his life to avoid breaking their fragile routines, a revelation that complicates Amanda’s feelings and forces her to weigh what she truly wants from love.

Iris’s world widens as she leans into cinema’s founding heroines and new friendships. At a dinner with Arthur Abbott, a veteran Oscar-winning screenwriter who embodies the Golden Age of Hollywood, Iris is counseled to borrow strength from strong female leads. He gifts her a list of classic films featuring confident, central women, encouraging her to become “the leading lady of her own life.” Iris’s journey of self-assertion begins to mirror the resilience she admires in the films he recommends, and she finds renewed motivation to chart her own path, independent of a man’s approval. This new momentum threads through her growing connection with Miles, a colleague of Amanda’s former partner Ethan, who is navigating his own heartbreak after a broken engagement with Maggie, a hopeful actress. On Christmas Eve, Iris and Miles discover shared shadows from past relationships, forging a quiet companionship that hints at brighter possibilities ahead.

Graham’s quiet honesty reshapes Amanda’s view of love and family. As Amanda and Graham spend more time together, she learns the full weight of his responsibilities as a father and the patience with which he handles his life’s demands. He reveals that he never tells new partners about his daughters because he fears how it could derail something real should it begin to falter. This honesty opens a window for Amanda to consider how love could fit into a life already defined by caretaking and commitment. Their bond deepens slowly, underscored by late-night conversations and shared moments that reveal how much they both want a future where their loved ones aren’t kept at arm’s length.

The holiday gala, temptations, and a moment of truth. The day of the gala brings a swirl of emotions. Jasper reappears, eager to rekindle their romance, but his disclosure of an ongoing engagement shatters Iris’s fragile hope and compels her to reclaim her dignity by stepping away. At the gala, Arthur’s heartfelt speech becomes a communal reminder of courage, resilience, and the magic of possibility that the season promises. Miles, standing at the edge of commitment with Maggie, refuses to pretend a future exists where one person’s happiness comes at the expense of the other’s. Iris’s heart takes a turn toward Miles when he asks her out for New Year’s Eve, and she accepts a chance at love with someone who understands her past while looking toward a shared future.

From heartbreak to hopeful futures. As the calendar turns, Graham confesses his love for Amanda, and while she does not immediately return the sentiment, they decide to pursue a long-distance path that could bring them together in time. A pivotal moment unfolds as Amanda, on the brink of leaving for the airport, breaks down in tears, only to race back to the cottage and find Graham similarly moved. Standing at a crossroads, they choose to celebrate New Year’s Eve together—embracing his daughters and stepping into a future that honors both their personal ambitions and the family responsibilities that define them.

A hopeful, imperfect ending that lingers. On New Year’s Eve, Iris, Amanda, Miles, Graham, Sophie, and Olivia come together in a warm, imperfect circle of love, friendship, and forgiveness. The film closes on a note of quiet optimism: two women from opposite sides of the Atlantic have learned to redefine what happiness looks like, and two men and their children stand at the threshold of new chapters, with the promise that honesty, courage, and a willingness to take risks can open doors to a more fulfilled life. The holiday becomes not just a season of celebration, but a testament to resilience, connection, and the possibility that love, in all its forms, can arrive exactly when one chooses to stop chasing it.