Why 'The Holiday' Isn't on Netflix for Christmas 2023

The 2006 holiday rom-com The Holiday was on Netflix for quit some time, but if you're looking for it this Christmas you'll have to go elsewhere. Netflix's licensing agreement for The Holiday expired in November of 2021 – just before many fans were expecting to check it off in their queue. Since then, it hasn't been available on Netflix or most subscription-based streaming services.

Keeping up with streaming licensing agreements has become a bit of a chore, and there aren't really any shortcuts besides using Google or another search engine to look around. At the time of this writing, The Holiday is available on FuboTV but no other subscription-based services. However, you can rent or purchase the movie on a digital store like Prime Video, Apple TV, Vudu or YouTube. For die-hard fans, it is also available on DVD or Blu-ray.

The Holiday is a unique movie breaking many of the usual formulas for rom-coms and holiday films. It was written and directed by Nancy Meyers and it stars Kate Winslet, Cameron Diaz, Jude Law and Jack Black. It follows two women, Amanda (Diaz) and Iris (Winsleet) who meet online and find they are stuck in similar ruts with their careers and love lives, so they decide to do a "home swap" for the holidays to trade places and shake up their routines. In London, Amanda falls in love with Iris' book editor (Law), while Iris falls for Miles (Black).

All in all, the movie is a quaint taste of Christmas with a romantic twist. It was well-received in its time and is fondly remembered. It was considered a commercial success, opening at No. 3 at the box office in 2006 and earning enough money to be the twelfth highest-grossing film by a female director in the 2000s, according to a report by Indie Wire.

Still, a closer look at The Holiday reveals some faults. The movie has an average score of 5.7 out of 10 among film critics according to Rotten Tomatoes. The "critical consensus" there reads: "While it's certainly sweet and even somewhat touching, The Holiday is so thoroughly predictable that audiences may end up opting for an early check-out time."

That being said, many critics confessed that this was what they expected and even hoped for from the movie, so there is no shame in sticking to a tried-and-true formula. In fact, within that formula, many people think The Holiday does some interesting things. Many praise the chemistry between Winslet and Black in particular. Sadly, critic Rex Reed of The New York Observer seemed to strike a chord in his assessment that the ending "diminish[es] a lot of the film's good intention."