Best. Christmas. Ever! is a comedy film that follows a reunion of Charlotte Sanders and Jackie Jennings, and how it changes their lives for the better. It is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
Jackie Jennings sends all her family and friends a Christmas letter with details of her own family. This particular letter came after a one-year-hiatus, although it was a tradition for the Jennings family.
The letter reveals that her ten-year-old daughter, Beatrix, became the youngest person to be accepted by Harvard. Her son, Daniel, is continuing his humanitarian efforts.
Her husband, Valentino, runs a successful karate dojo and will be directing the town’s Christmas pageant. Jackie, on the other hand, sold her company, Jennings Aviation, and retired early.
She is now constantly looking for new adventures. Her latest is to fulfil Daniel’s dream of promoting green energy by going around the world in a solar-powered hot air balloon.
Charlotte gets jealous of the achievements. Her own family is ordinary. Her daughter, Dora, has been inspired by Marvel and wants to become a superhero.
Her son, Grant, thinks he’s a ninja and his only friend is his stuffed animal, Monkey Bob. Her husband, Rob, is a dreamer and looks at every house as an opportunity to make money.
Charlotte is a failed inventor and is now a reliability engineer at StarTech Industries. When her company’s equipment malfunctions, like the latest vacuum cleaner that catches fire, she comes in.
Rob and Jackie used to date when they were younger. Charlotte believes all of Jackie’s claims are fake, including how she stated she knew Mariah Carey.
The Sanders family decide to visit Charlotte’s sister Stacy for the holidays, but Grant wants to meet Jackie. He purposely puts her address on the navigation instead and they end up reaching Jackie’s home.
Jackie and her family are excited to host Charlotte and her family and ask them to stay till Christmas. The latter is envious of the life Jackie has.
She takes it upon herself to prove that everything is fake. She tests Beatrix’s intelligence, but she proves herself. Their trips around the world also check out.
While snooping around, Charlotte finds a letter from Rob to Jackie. But before she can read it, Jackie enters the room and she is forced to hide. The kids embark on a mission to prove Santa is a fraud, led by Beatrix.
When Charlotte is sneaking into the attic, Valentino thinks it’s a burglar and attacks her. He finds a doll house made by Jackie.
His mother, Sophia, built dollhouses. This is how she earned after his father died. But one day, there was a fire at the studio, and everything was destroyed, except one that was left a charred ruin.
Sophia planned to rebuild it but passed away soon after. Jackie rebuilt it for him. Charlotte apologises for ruining the surprise, but accidentally breaks the dollhouse.
Best. Christmas. Ever! ending explained in detail:
Why was Rob sending letters to Jackie?
Rob asks Charlotte why she is hell-bent on proving Jackie’s life as fake. Is she envious or embarrassed of her own life?
She reveals that she saw the letter sent to her by Rob and thinks they’re having an affair. Jackie asks him to tell her the truth.
Rob had been sending out Christmas letters just like Jackie but didn’t tell Charlotte because she hated the ‘brag letters’.
What happened to Daniel?
Charlotte apologises to Jackie and tells her they’re leaving. Jackie asks them to stay, saying that the dollhouse accident was just a mistake. They finally reconcile.
To make amends, Charlotte gets Rob’s dream house. With Beatrix’s bargaining skills, they get the money at low interest.
Charlotte and Rob rebuild the dollhouse. Grant decides to go back home, thinking that Santa would be expecting him there.
Since he thinks of himself as a ninja, Charlotte and Jackie find him at a Japanese restaurant. While there, Charlotte sees news of StarTech Industries facing lawsuits for the selling the flaming vacuums.
Since she doesn’t have the money, she needs to revoke the deal on the loan for the house. On her way, one of Jackie’s friends hints that this is a bad time of the year for her.
Charlotte sees a billboard for ‘Daniel Jennings Memorial Fund’ and pieces it all together. Jackie’s son had passed away, explaining the one-year hiatus of the letter.
She couldn’t just write about it in the letter. She did everything in his memory but passed it off as something he was doing.
How do Jackie and Charlotte convince the kids that Santa is real?
Jackie tests the hot air balloon made for completing Daniel’s dream, but it runs into a technical snag. Surprisingly, Charlotte’s invention of Chip Mitts saves the day, originally intended to keep crumbs away.
The two, along with Monkey Bob, take a trip on the hot air balloon. Along the way, they accidentally life the Santa sleigh on top of Jackie’s house.
Charlotte sits in the sleigh and acts as Santa, convincing all the kids of his existence. When the two come down, they are helped by a stranger looking like Santa Claus, who mysteriously disappears. The pageant is also a success.
At the end, Charlotte reveals that they made it to Stacy’s house for the New Year’s. Jackie and Charlotte started a Chip Mitt business and their first customer was Mariah Carey.
All the kids are taking karate lessons from Valentino. The Jennings Family floated around the world in the hot air balloon to raise money, completing Daniel’s dream.
The Sanders got the house but instead of selling it for profit, decided to keep it. Charlotte closes the film by repeating what was told to her earlier: “Christmas with Jackie is a life-altering experience.”
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