A new Christmas film that has just dropped on Netflix appears to be dividing viewers already.
With Christmas just around the corner, it's the perfect time to release a new Christmas film... a shocking fact, I know.
We all have our favorite Christmas movies and unlike other film debates, quality isn’t always the end all and be all when ranking the festive season flicks.
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That being said, Netflix’s Family Switch is continuing to divide viewers and critics about just how good it is.
As if the title didn’t give it away already, it's about a family of four getting tangled up in a body switching incident around the holiday season.
Think Freaky Friday, but double the number of those involved.
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While body switches stories are pretty tired concepts at this point, they often are a great opportunity for actors to show their range and some fun comedic antics.
The film’s synopsis reads: “When family members switch bodies with each other during a rare planetary alignment, their hilarious journey to find their way back to normal will bring them closer together than they ever thought possible.”
The movie features Jennifer Garner as the mom, Ed Helms as the dad, Emma Myers as the teenage daughter and Brady Noon as the teenage son.
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On Rotten Tomatoes the film doesn’t fare particularly well, with an audience score of 51 percent after 100+ ratings and commands a 42 percent on the tomatometer following 19 reviews.
The reviews do show a considerable divide with some viewers absolutely loving it and others hoping it would end faster.
Screen Rant has said: “Family Switch yields some laughs, some cringe, and a fair amount of heart, even if it doesn't tread new ground for this ridiculous, beloved premise.”
While Deadline said in a review: "Guess what? It works, even offering some LOL moments along the way in a movie that isn’t trying to reinvent anything here, just finding a new angle to squeeze some more life out of it.”
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On the flipside, the New York Times said: “The real nail in the coffin is the film’s messaging about the power of family, which is about as tacked-on and stilted as they come — hardly a shock in light of the rest of the Netflix holiday movie lineup.”
The Hollywood Reporter very much agreed, writing: “It’s simply hard to feel all that deeply for characters so flat and sweet they might as well be gingerbread people, resolving problems that barely seemed to exist in the first place.”
The film is currently available on Netflix, so check it out for yourself and decide whether everyone involved deserves coal in their stocking or a sweet treat from Santa.
Topics: Film and TV, Netflix
Gerrard Kaonga