Home for Christmas (2019–2020) User Reviews

Relief

[joergwohde · 8/10 · 7 December 2019]

After trying to find a good watch for Christmas, this is, after the usual US cliche bs which made nearly my eyes fall out from all the eyerolling, finally a nice little series with believable and likeable characters and story.

Yes it's possible, a good story without time traveling knights and laughtracks.

Thank you Norway.

Heartwarming nice story with a sweet main actor

[DasStig · 9/10 · 6 December 2019]

It's fun and light hearted, just how Christmas should be

What real families look like

[ivona-flakus · 9/10 · 6 December 2019]

I am so happy I found this! Its Scandinavian (Norwegian) short series about a girl and the pressure that is being put on her. She is 30 and "boyfriendless", which in her families eyes means that she is incomplete. The quest to prove to her family that she is "normal" and has a boyfriend by the family Christmas dinner time begins!

There is clearly the "Love actually" influence there and you better love that movie too!

The ending will leave you restless! I hope Netflix will create more European series/movies like this!

p.s. dear English speaking people - please watch this with original sound and subtitles, not dubbed. Sincerely, you need to learn another language ;)

Heart warming and get you thinking about the ones around you!

[siwhellebust · 10/10 · 6 December 2019]

Such a beautiful, sad, happy, cracy and unexpected story. I loved it! One to watch! Well done Norway <3

Ding.. Dong 🎶🎶

[csiegel888 · 5 December 2019]

Mysterious ending. Who's at the door? Did baby boy have a change of heart? Stein? Dr. Henrik?

I hate endings like this!!! 😩I need to know !

I wish it never ended

[soneagu · 10/10 · 21 December 2020]

The series is basically a one lady show, who is, as a friend of her said: "lovely, weird, funny, crazy, most unpredictable, naive and romantic in the entirety of planet Earth". Johanne's role is so well played that it's difficult not to laugh, cry, suffer, enjoy, feel depressed together with her. Ida Elise Broch, as well as the script, are superb.

Beautiful, but omg

[h_silje · 7/10 · 6 December 2019]

Beautifully told, and very easy to relate to! But the ending; jeez. Left me uneasy! I want to know! Who is the lucky man/woman, i really wanted to know. For me the ending was an anti klimaks, Not in the spirit of christmas movies/series..

Nice try from Norway!

[Blackeyer · 10/10 · 7 December 2019]

A very beautiful work, with everyday situations. Funny, romantic, smart and delicate. It's a 10 from me, looking forward for season two!

Very pleasant to see

[alkis-75209 · 7/10 · 24 December 2020]

Judging by the title I supposed that it was another christmas comedy. Nevertheless, the whole plot was about Johanne and her attempts to find a suitable boyfriend (at first just for not to be alone at christmas). The nice story has some cliches but it's funny and with great acting for a comedy. And that counts for first and secondary roles too. It's not a revelation, it's not the most original script ever, but it's well written and properly directed. I would fully recommend it. I even enjoyed the language. It was something different to listen to. I binged watched it asap. Have fun.

Funny and cute

[ch-ristiina · 8/10 · 5 December 2019]

Funny and cute show. Did not like the end. Who's at the door? Hope it wasnt Stein, but who else? Wanted at least 10 episoder more haha. Time went by too fast

Very cute and watchable if you're out of things to watch

[bellsandjuls · 7/10 · 30 October 2020]

*spoiler* who thinks Stein is a stalker? He pops in randomly and is always wanting to give her a ride places. Kinda creepy.

Seriously good

[jovoh-56260 · 10/10 · 13 November 2020]

Fresh, clever and authentic. This is a modern take on a 30-year single woman figuring what she wants from life while navigating through social pressure, expectations and norms. Packed with witty, charming and unexpected moments, this is a true gem for Christmas. I utterly enjoyed every single minute.

Very, very good and fun until..... anti climax

[patric-17447 · 7/10 · 8 December 2019]

After have seen all episodes, and the expectations slowly were built up, it felt like an anti climax..... All of you, who have seen the last episode knows what I meen. 🙁

Honest review, not like the rest of those suckers

[Manny42 · 2/10 · 28 December 2020]

I am assuming that all the other positive reviews are either:

• paid;
• friends and family of the cast;
• Or there is a canyon between the Norwegian filmography culture and the rest of the world, and I can't clearly understand its genius.

Watched both first and second season.

These are all the negatives things on top of my head:

• The second end embarrassment is way over the top. This is definitely not a rom-com; it's just a sequence of idiocy from the main character. The character never grows. The writer makes her do stupid stuff over and over to create a cheap laugh, that honestly, never arrives;

• Love or romantic scenes seem written by a twelve years old with zero real-world experience. This is absolutely not relatable in any way;

• Women are written exactly how you would expect a man with no experience with women to write them. Awful with (once again) zero-depth and a lot of unexplained emotions;

• Social norms don't exist in this world. It's basically like The Sims - There is this scene where a guy punches another guy during a party. The main character takes the stage and starts a drunken speech that ends with clapping and roaring from the crowd. There is absolutely no bouncer that kicks this guy off the club. The socially inept guy that threw the punch meets a girl seconds after the punch (?????????). The drunken speech would be welcomed with silenced awkwardness at best and laughter at worst. Who thought this was a good idea? This is NOT how the real world works. Someone should have said something, but evidently, no one did;

• Fortuitous coincidences - they order some takeaway food, and the delivery woman was a date in the previous episode. The main character takes a leak in the streets and gets caught by the ex (and they split up like 5 hours before). Everything is just so plot-convenient.

• The list goes on.

The only positive note that I can finish with is the character of Jonas. One of the best-written characters I've ever seen. His acting is also the most convincing, intelligent, and incredible acting depth. I love everything about this character.

Just the right choice of light happy, yet valuable watch for the season.

[sanamer · 8/10 · 20 December 2020]

Normally I would have given it 7/10, but watching it in the xmas spirit, and in particular compared with most of the American garbage xmas movies and series, I increased the rating to 8. As someone from a non-Christian culture, I truly enjoyed watching the original, traditional warmth that I felt in this series as compared with all the commercial fake xmas I feel in the North America. As someone who has never bern able to relate to the North American style xmas celebration, I have to admit this series gave me the cozy warm feeling I have always felt since childhood in our new year celebrations... The warmth of something traditional and way way more original than just pushing people to go to the mall. In this sense, I really loved this series.

In addition, I also appreciate it very much that unlike the mainstream North American series and movies (especially the Christmas ones) that keep emphasizing on how sad and needy and incomplete single women above a certain age are and they'd be happy only upon clinging to a man, this one tries to show that a woman, as is, is enough for herself and must not let all the social pressure and family expectations push her to settle on something that doesn't make her happy. I love how it shows that Johanna, despite all her doubts in herself, all her ups and downs, all her occasional bending when it comes to family pressure, does not settle for something less than what she deserves. I love her very normal realistic character, having her weak moments, melt downs, relying on friends and family at times of need, but at the same time being an independent reliable person in the lives of her family, friends, colleagues, and her patients. I love that despite all the occasional moments of feeling weak or like a loser, she eventually uses her support network to dry her tears and goes back on her feet. It is sooooo like the opposite of the American mainstream garbage advertises. I love how in the first episode it emphasizes how single people are ignored by all the commercial culture (no xmas set edition of pyjamas for singles, just couples and family).

Moreover, I also enjoyed the very real sense of humour and sensible jokes in the series.

All in all, nothing very deep or extraordinary, but a great light happy "right" choice for Christmas season, especially a Christmas like this one with all the COVID-related restrictions.

What a pleasant surprise

[daycmane · 10/10 · 24 December 2019]

I watched it all in one sit. I found myself laughing and crying with this show... I could relate to the protagonist so much and I was laughing out loud at times, just because some stuff is so genuine! I'm in love with this show, because I'm her age, recently relocated to a new country and I'm going through the same "putting yourself out there" phase, and it's so amusing to see a TV show that portraits that so well without being cheesy, the ups and downs of dating and being single. I highly recommend it!!!

Sad commentary on life

[woooz · 6/10 · 13 January 2021]

Johanna is pressured by absolutely everyone to couple up, breed, and live the same dull life as every one else.

The least they could do is get some farm animals or baubles in exchange for their daughter.

Do not watch the dubbed version please.

[gunnepp-466-100557 · 8/10 · 31 December 2019]

Actually quite good and charming. Norwegian feel good. The dubbed version is awful

Nicely written show

[larsviktor27 · 7/10 · 11 December 2019]

Home for Christmas is a good story with a lot of believable characters with faults, including the main character. You can definitely see that the writers have taken their time with the backstories of the characters, that slowly surface during the season

At some time it felt like the series had too many characters for such a short season, and ends up feeling a bit rushed, throwing the protagonist from character to character. However, the series is still well worth a watch and I'm looking forward to season 2.

Bravo Norway...

[xmasmoviefreak · 9/10 · 21 December 2020]

I just spent pretty much a whole day binging on this Netflix original during the lockdown here. Wow! This is a brilliant Christmas TV series. I had fun watching this one. The acting was great, and the story was wonderful to watch on screen. I laughed a lot. Plus, it is just great watching something from a Nordic country. A bit different humour. Well done!

The first season is good...the second too predictable

[tatianacanon · 7/10 · 7 February 2021]

Love the first season..is good to watch series from a country that is not the us. But the second season didn't have the same energy

Was Not Expecting That!

[asteele-39456 · 10/10 · 9 December 2019]

I usually skip over subtitled TV shows but I got so into the characters and the story I almost forgot I was reading while watching! This is charming, quirky, and heartfelt series. The ending - WOW! I gasped. I NEED TO KNOW!!

Mostly watchable about loneliness and being there for other people

[the_oak · 7/10 · 15 December 2020]

Seems the lead role is a sweet and kind woman, although she has lots of tattoos of knife through skull and more. I think the series is a bit awkward at times, but also touching, sweet and funny. The men she dates are quite hopeless, but in some ways I think the film tries to say that noone is perfect and we all have our demons and stuff that we try to hide away and that we hope someone can love despite of. In the end we get a lesson about seeing the qualities of all the good people around us.

Season 2 sucks

[amylppec · 2/10 · 22 December 2020]

I enjoyed watching season 1 but season 2 is a disappointment! Everything is just pushed and shoved to the viewers mouth. The ending 🤢 I don't even understand why they ended up together when they haven't even established their relationship besides "words". Then, if that relationship were a continuation of the first season, it was a clear no growth!

So accurate

[KongKristin · 10/10 · 8 December 2019]

Loved this show, I need more. It's like watching the story of my own life, as a single late 20's girl. The actors do a great job, I had to fast forward over some of the scenes, just because the awkwardsness crept through the screen an got To me. For real cringe.

To sum up: YOU NEED TO SEE IT 👏🏼