A Christmas Switch (2018 TV Movie) User Reviews

Just have fun with it

[Jackbv123 · 6/10 · 4 December 2018]

Yes it's been done before. Is it as good as the others? Maybe not, but maybe yes. The acting is fine. The story is also fine. If you don't try to compare, but go with the flow, it is an enjoyable TV movie.

I liked that there was confusion of the sudden switch is profound, but not overdone. I liked that Julia is tough, even arrogant and selfish, but not sadistically mean. I liked that the teenage Laurel does love her mom. I loved little Cleary Herzlinger as Kelly. She actually acted her age. And I loved the very last segment by the tree.

Jackie Seiden has talent. We hear a bit of it, but I could have listened to more.

Festive body swapping

[TheLittleSongbird · 6/10 · 30 December 2018]

Christmas has always been special to me and my favourite time of year. Main reasons being that it means lots of family time and reliving the nostalgia of singing and listening to carols, watching Christmas films and animations, playing festive games and opening presents. Will never tire of it and nothing will ever change that for the world.

Seing it as someone who wanted to see a different festive film other than the ones watched every year, 'A Christmas Switch' is never going to be among my favourites or one of the timeless festive films. It is not great, nor is it flawless. 'A Christmas Switch' is though a more than watchable film and avoids some, though not all, of the traps that other Christmas films have fallen into. It is a case of having appeal for some and others finding it a bit of a chore to sit through. For me despite its flaws, 'A Christmas Switch' is one of the better new Christmas films seen recently, but nowhere near close to ever.

As to be expected, the story is predictable and although the premise is a reasonably clever one there isn't an original idea in sight. There are a lot of easily telegraphed scenes here. Some draggy pacing here and there too.

Some of the dialogue veers on the cheesy side and like some festive films it is not without its schmaltzy and over-sentimental moments, some of which not easy to stomach.

However, 'A Christmas Switch' is a decent looking film, the locations are particularly striking. The music provides some affectionate nostalgia and is pleasant to listen to, while the direction avoids being too routine. Didn't find myself irritated by the characters at least and wasn't bored.

Despite the predictability, 'A Christmas Switch' has its heart in the right place, a difficult to dislike atmosphere and has a nice message that is easily relatable and wasn't laid on too thick. There is definitely a festive spirit and there is plenty of warmth and charm here, with enough parts to warm and melt the heart. Never does it feel too juvenile or mean-spirited and the sentimentality doesn't become too much. The acting actually comes over very well, with two likeable leads and children that never are too sugary sweet or bratty, instead charming and beyond their years.

Overall, likeable and above average if nothing to be blown away by. 6/10 Bethany Cox

Christmas fun

[prolozra · 6/10 · 23 December 2021]

Is it deep? Not really. Is it incredible? No. But it's fun and that what a Christmas movie should be. The little girl is super cute, and it's fairly enjoyable.

Good work and great vocals for Christmas songs!

[latrese888 · 6/10 · 10 December 2018]

Jackie Seiden captured my ears with her strong & beautiful voice and that adorable little Cleary Herslinger stole my heart with such believable acting skills at such a young age. Sweet film.

It's ok.

[TMC836 · 4/10 · 27 November 2020]

The actresses look too similar and it took away from the already predictable and regurgitated plot. But what really took me by surprise was that we are suppose to believe that the actress singing actually sounds good. The singing was awful. It was strained and forced and not enjoyable at all. It actually made me wince when she tried to hit those high notes. I honestly couldn't believe it. But I give the actress credit for her confidence. She really thinks she can sing and acts like it. Overall, it's the mindless Christmas movie you turn on while doing other things.

Dont waste your time...

[billbillsmom · 5/10 · 26 December 2019]

Another remake of Freaky Friday. Could not get interested in the "movie". Decided to watch my floor dry...it was more interesting......

Charming, funny, upbeat!

[jlfarr495 · 9/10 · 6 November 2018]

Christmas television movies are very much hit or miss propositions. A Christmas Switch is a surprising charmer that most will find pleasing. The Freaky Friday concept of changing bodies and being forced to handle fish out of water existences is certainly not new, but the two lead actresses here do a terrific job of conveying their experiences, and the supporting cast complements them wonderfully. The two daughters are totally charming, and the husbands perfectly project good-natured bemusement. This is probably not a film that viewers will long remember, but it should entertain them most satisfyingly while they are watching it. And what else do you want from a Christmas television movie!

Slow

[tresadavis-05597 · 3/10 · 27 November 2021]

The plot was good but the execution was so slow. The entire movie could have been about 45 minutes. Julia's character was very uncaring and not convincing she would change in the end.

A winner of a movie. Fun and rewarding to watch.

[Pete-Claus · 9/10 · 27 December 2019]

As some other reviews have noted, the lead actresses do a great job in pulling off their roles. The plot is meaningful for the characters involved and a lot of fun to watch. Good comedic acting. Good plot surprises. Very satisfying at the end. The epitome of an excellent Christmas movie. Enjoy!

Really?

[Marynewcomb2013 · 1/10 · 1 December 2018]

They really made this? How many movies have been done with this switching places already? Can they not come up with anything original, even for Christmas movies? This is beyond ridiculous!!! Don't waste your time on this garbage!!

Just wow.

[w-04461 · 1/10 · 24 December 2022]

Holy crud. This was a waste of time. What a predictable ending. They must find a better singer for this human being. The singer needs a redo of her noise job and an eye doctor check. And the mean lady needs a color correction her hair looks box dyed. So patchy. Let me start with the husbands. The husbands is a whole different story. The special effects as they pulled the candy canes was terrible, really just so bad. The blonde daughter, laurel, need a hair dresser appointment. Her extensions don't match her hair length. I feel bad for the little girl in the movie to be involved in such a movie. Her future has been ruined. The lies they taught her. Could the restaurant please PLEASE not have the singing contest. WHO GIVES A fart ABOUT THE SINGING, people want to eat and leave! Like really the stage. These are all the many reasons i rated this movie 1/10. Don't ruin your Christmas spirit with this movie.

A Worthwhile, Fun Christmas Movie

[tabuno · 8/10 · 7 December 2020]

This by now typical seasonal Christmas switching of bodies plot (i.e. The Princess Switch 2018) is remade into a rather nicely written script that allows the audience to revisit the comedic juxtaposition of two people into each other's bodies and experience the common woman and elite woman lives. The acting and presentation are made into a finely, balanced storyline, especially having to smoothly craft the edgy moments of confusion as well as the snobbish scenes by the rich and elite. Thus, the feel-good expectations of this movie genre are acceptably adhered to. The pacing of the movie is good and the storyline doesn't seem redundant or stale. The transformation of BOTH women is also nicely handled. A worthwhile contribution to the Christmas movie scene.

Well done.

[rebekahrox · 8/10 · 15 November 2020]

Good film of a very reliably entertaining trope: the body switch. The two women get each other's lives in order with their fresh prospectives. My only quibble is the actresses looked too much alike so it got too confusing and kept taking me out of the movie. There should have been more of a contrast. It would have added to the impact and the comedy.

Actually pretty fun if a bit cheesy in places but....

[nsakirkland · 8/10 · 26 December 2021]

So the premise opens up pretty much like any other body swapping film. Two people with issues enough that make them just a little disatisfied with their current lives meet by chance and pretty much write each off on the spot.

They meet again by chance and end up making a strong enough wish together that they switch bodies with each other while they're sleeping.

The two women have their own personalities complete with good points and bad points and legitamately do feel like genuine people not just some character forced to fit a mould that they don't actually fit properly. At least while they're themselves.

The switch itself is where I have some vague issues. They both seem to become completely lost while they're in the other body, even when they seem to have it together, there's a certain wrongness in the air where they do things that are at odds with both the character we saw prior to the switch and the character we see once switched.

Bossy, no nonsense at all, over assertive woman becomes a little more unsure of herself and suddenly really good at being "fun mom" when it was made apparent beforehand that she doesn't really understand the concept of children being children and this is why older daughter turned out how she did.

People pleaser with the memory to make us ordinary folks jealous, (able to keep on top of all requests given to her while never ever saying no), forgets basics on how to keep her swappee informed on the important things, and that her swappee is going to need to at least have the basics to sing in order to keep the job needed.

On top of that, the interesting events that would have actually been cool to see.. such as Assisant running the meeting, implementing his ideas because he's been given the permission to do so. The after effects of that. The effects of "Audrey" turning down multiple jobs that she's already agreed to do for the school. The work put behind getting Laurel to actually agree to spend time with her and to decorate the house. Were left out in favour of us seeing the two women meeting up now and then in an attempt to figure out how to reverse the curse.

Of course, these things don't really matter while watching, you don't realise until after you've seen it that you would probably have liked to see those things going down. It's enjoyable enough that you keep watching, even if you kind of want to cringe now and then when Julia in Audrey's body keeps trying to act as though people should know it was her when she looks nothing like her.

The husbands are a little too easy going maybe at being semi-threatened in their own house, and no signs of potential concern over how damaging that head injury must have been.

My biggest issue though? The very end with the two kids making their wish and obviously swapping... that? That is the movie I would have liked to have seen.. and as soon as it ended I was hoping to see that film instead.

Predictable Christmas Fun

[nltrbills · 9/10 · 19 November 2022]

The acting was good, especially the little girl.

I enjoy the predictable, cheesy nature of Christmas movies and this delivered.

The characters that switched both realized their strengths and weaknesses and had a genuine appreciation for their lives.

The supporting actors also had believable responses to how the characters were acting. They had genuine confusion about being in another persons body and worked out how to help each other. Building their friendship added to the movie.

I appreciated that the movie touched on how weird it would be to be in another body with someone else's kid and husband.

Grab a cup of cocoa and enjoy.

A fun and not completely predictable Switch

[s_manion · 10/10 · 22 December 2022]

This was a very fun and inventive "switch" movie. The 2 lead actresses delivered very solid performances in their roles. The script writing was excellent with zero dead spots in the entire film. The pace of the movie was outstanding, with no feeling that the action should move forward more quickly or that the pace should slow.

What sticks out in this movie is that the performance of the husbands was also enjoyable. Along with the sometimes "uncomfortable" and funny interactions between the switched women and the husband(s) that weren't their own. And the young girl/child's performance is spectacular*!

The movie ends with some useful thoughts about the importance of what is done as a parent, both long-term and in the moment. As a husband who has children, I found this to be very funny and sometimes cringeworthy in an enjoyable way. Overall, every character brings something useful to this movie, and it has become one that I watch each year.

Sweetest comedy ever

[TheCheeseMistress · 9/10 · 26 February 2021]

This is one of the sweetest, most heart warming movies I've ever watched: if I had to choose one movie to illustrate the expression "heart warming", this would be it. It accomplishes the main goals of a comedy, being funny and entertaining, with the two leads finding themselves in the body of the other one with a highly (and positively) emotional portrayal of family love.

Warning: heavy dose of cringe at the beginning but keep watching, it's only the first few minutes. It features some frustratingly overused tropes like the two women being in a complete panic state while their husbands just keep talking to them completely oblivious of the fact that there's clearly something wrong, or complications in dealing with being in someone else's body that could be easily solved by just calling the other person to ask her for context.

My only complaint is that only one of them has an actual character arch while the other one's purpose seems to be solely to help the former in her journey. But that's a realization I only arrived to when meditating about it afterwards, while I was watching it it kept me hooked up the whole time and left me dreaming awake about having a family as loving as theirs.



(Spoiler) I was really frustrated on the way the last few seconds completely ruin the meaning of all of the previous story by showing that the whole body switching experience is given to basically anyone instead of being reserved to those in a situation that could actually benefit from it. We don't know of any existencial problem the two girls could be facing, the little girl just expresses a wish that is a result of what was happening at the moment, just a random thing a 5 yo girl would say. Why does she need to live a traumatic experience that, far from helping her self improve, will most likely drive her to insanity?

Done before but worth your time

[jpyshny · 8/10 · 16 January 2024]

This has been done before. Mother daughter, switch, sister switch, etc. Etc. This one is done especially well, two great actresses, good plot, great dialogue it will keep you glued to your seat. Definitely recommend.

Love the changes in the two characters personalities as they experience life from a different perspective. One, over the top for Christmas, and has the inability to say no to any request. The other is a grinch and a Scrooge, and the first word out of her mouth is no.

It's great to see the two of them learning to work together to help each other out and help each other's families out. Lots of lessons to be learned from this one.

Very very nice job worth your time.

Va-va-voom

[MickyG333 · 8/10 · 24 January 2024]

7.6 stars.

I'm lucky to personally find both of these leading females to be extremely gorgeous. The odds seem low on the probability of that for some reason, however it's interesting that both look so similar. I figured they might switch places in a different way, maybe they were twins that never met or something. But once you see them both for just a minute, you realize they are two different actresses and totally different in mannerisms and visage. Nevertheless, this film is actually fun. Don't let the first 40 minutes get the best of you, it starts out really - really slow. Once the story builds and the characters become more interesting, stuff gets fun. Then after more development, the relationships become endearing and emotional. Finally, we grow to love these two women, and both daughters and husbands are so likable too. There is a lot of potential lost, they could've added more to this movie, much more, but alas it's not in the cards. The whole sequel potential, I doubt that ever happened, but maybe it did, who knows. I recommend this, but you must let it marinate for a while and then it gets good.