Back to trending
A California Christmas

A California Christmas

Comedy · Romance · Drama · 2020

With his carefree lifestyle on the line, a wealthy charmer poses as a ranch hand to get a hardworking farmer to sell her family’s land before Christmas.

Movie details

A California Christmas

2020 Comedy · Romance · Drama 1h 46m

Critical arithmetic

One number, for now.

TMDB

6.4 / 10

Community rating

With his carefree lifestyle on the line, a wealthy charmer poses as a ranch hand to get a hardworking farmer to sell her family’s land before Christmas.

CriticWise case file

What this film says about your taste.

Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.

The archetype split

Who fights over A California Christmas?

The split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.

Taste neighbourhood

Nearby on the taste map.

TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.

I Met a Girl

I Met a Girl

Romance · 2020

An aspiring musician struggling with schizophrenia falls for a mysterious woman who may be all in his head. When she suddenly vanishes, he takes off on a cross-country journey across Australia to find her, forcing his long-suffering brother to chase after him.

Father of the Bride

Father of the Bride

Romance · 2022

A father comes to grips with his daughter’s upcoming wedding through the prism of multiple relationships within a big, sprawling Cuban-American family.

Is This Thing On?

Is This Thing On?

Comedy · 2025

As their marriage quietly unravels, Alex faces middle age and an impending divorce, seeking new purpose in the New York comedy scene while Tess confronts the sacrifices she made for their family—forcing them to navigate co-parenting, identity, and whether love can take a new form.

The Baltimorons

The Baltimorons

Comedy · 2025

A newly sober man's Christmas Eve dental emergency leads to an unexpected romance with his older dentist as they explore Baltimore together.

Which Brings Me to You

Which Brings Me to You

Romance · 2023

Two romantic burnouts, Jane and Will, are immediately drawn to each other at a mutual friend’s wedding. After a disastrous hookup in the coatroom, the two spend the next 24 hours together, trading candid confessions of messy histories and heartbreak, on the off chance that this fling might be the real thing.

A California Christmas: City Lights

A California Christmas: City Lights

Romance · 2021

Follows Callie and Joseph one year after they fell in love, now running a dairy farm and winery, but their romance is threatened when business and family obligations call Joseph back to the city.

Other People's Money

Other People's Money

Comedy · 1991

When a corporate raider threatens a hostile takeover of a 'mom and pop' company, the patriarch of the company enlists the help of his wife's attractive daughter—who is a lawyer—to stop the takeover. However, the raider soon becomes infatuated with her, and enjoys the legal manoeuvring as he tries to win her heart.

Danny Deckchair

Danny Deckchair

Comedy · 2003

An unappreciated laborer's patience reaches breaking point when his girlfriend cancels a romantic holiday. Making light of the situation, he decides to tie hundreds of helium balloons to a chair in an outlandish bid to float to a new life.

A Dog Year

A Dog Year

Comedy · 2009

Jon Katz is close to burnout. He's a writer with writer's block; his wife has left for her sister's because he's emotionally distant; he rarely answers his phone. A kennel sends him a border collie that's undisciplined because of abuse. Despite a series of mishaps, Jon decides to keep trying with the dog, and he rents a dilapidated farm house to give the dog room to run. A local handyman refers Jon to a woman who might be able to help him train the dog. Reluctantly, Jon gives her a try. Is the dog the problem, or the owner?

Sidewalks of New York

Sidewalks of New York

Comedy · 2001

The film follows the marital and dating lives of three men and three women who unknowingly form a tangled web of relationships. Interspersing "man on the street" interviews with scenes from the six characters' lives, the film weaves a humorous and biting commentary on the game of love -- easy to start, hard to finish.

Where it lives

Watch in your region.

Cinema release signals and current streaming, rental, and purchase options for your region.

Streaming availability data supplied by JustWatch.

Names above the title

The people responsible.

Directed by

Shaun Paul Piccinino

Written by

Lauren Swickard

Lauren Swickard

Lauren Swickard

Callie

Josh Swickard

Josh Swickard

Joseph

Ali Afshar

Ali Afshar

Leo

David Del Rio

David Del Rio

Manny

Natalia Mann

Natalia Mann

Hannah

Katelyn Epperly

Katelyn Epperly

Liz

Gunnar Anderson

Gunnar Anderson

Connor

Court is in session

Put A California Christmas on trial.

Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.

The defence The Sentimental Softie

“Sincerity is not manipulation.”

The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.

The prosecution The Cool Ironist

“The strings are showing.”

Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.