Netflix’s New Comedy Is The Modern Heir To Robin Williams’ Mrs. Doubtfire

Netflix just dropped a new holiday rom-com, and the internet immediately went: wait, is this Mrs. Doubtfire with a Santa suit? Short answer: kind of, yeah. It is also perfectly watchable if you can handle a heavy dose of premise deja vu.

What it is

The movie is called My Secret Santa, it is directed by Michael Rohl, and it is streaming now on Netflix. The hook is simple and very 90s-comedy-coded: a single mom disguises herself as a man to snag a seasonal Santa job at a fancy ski resort, then accidentally catches feelings for her boss. Cue complications, yuletide edition.

'A vivacious single mom in need of a job decides to disguise herself as a man in order to get hired as the seasonal Santa at a luxury ski resort. But when she starts to fall in love with the hotel manager, complications develop that could ruin everything.'

The early chatter

Initial reactions on social media this week (Dec 3–4) skewed decent-to-mixed. A few folks called it a solid time and even tossed out a 3.5/5, while others joked it is literally the Mrs. Doubtfire plot trained on Christmas. One viewer singled out Tia Mowry as a bright spot. Another TV writer framed the night as a double-feature of flipped classics: Prime Video has Oh. What. Fun. doing a 'misplaced mom' spin with Michelle Pfeiffer, and Netflix is over here doing the gender-disguise comedy in a Santa suit. If you are sensitive to familiar blueprints, consider yourself warned.

Who is in it and who made it

• Cast: Alexandra Breckenridge, Ryan Eggold, Madison MacIsaac, Barry Levy, Diana Maria Riva, Tia Mowry, Adam Beauchesne, Dominic Fox, Nathan Kay, William C. Vaughan
• Director: Michael Rohl
• Writers: Ron Oliver and Carley Smale
• Where to watch: Streaming now on Netflix

Bottom line: if the phrase 'reverse Mrs. Doubtfire at a ski resort' makes you smile more than it makes you groan, My Secret Santa will probably hit the cozy-holiday-movie spot. If not, well, the mulled wine is right over there.