EXmas

Did You Know?

• The film was produced by BuzzFeed Studios.
• It also stars Michael Hitchcock, Kathy Greenwood, Veronika Slowikowska, and Steven Huy.
• The announcement of the film's premiere was made on October 17, 2023.

Plot

Half a year after calling off their wedding, Ali and Graham find themselves thinking back on their relationship as the holiday season rolls in. While baking, Ali tells her friends how much she misses the warm, loving family she lost when she left her ex-fiancé. Meanwhile, Graham is buried in work as a game developer. His boss pushes a deadline up to Christmas, so Graham informs his family he won’t be leaving Los Angeles. But he changes his mind and flies to Minnesota to surprise them, only to discover Ali already there. His mother, Jeannie, and sister, Mindy, awkwardly admit they invited her and gave her Graham’s childhood room. He later learns his father, Dennis, and brother, Elliot, have also kept in touch with her. Determined to make Ali look bad so his family will side with him, Graham decides to stay. Ali catches on and proposes a bet: whoever wins over the family first gets bragging rights. What follows is a series of petty, childish stunts as each tries to outdo the other.

At the annual Stroop Christmas party, Ali meets Brady, Graham’s old high school rival who now works for Dennis. Graham, on the other hand, connects with a local woman named Jess. The whole group later heads to a bar, where Ali and Graham attempt to make each other jealous. In the middle of their antics, Mindy reveals she has split from her girlfriend, Heather, so both Graham and Ali step in to comfort her. The next day, the competition heats up as the family prepares for Christmas Eve dinner. Graham sabotages Ali by using up all the butter, but she finds a jar of butter to make her cookies anyway. At dinner, Brady and Jess show up uninvited. Graham and Jess skip dessert while everyone else digs into Ali’s cookies—only to discover she used THC-infused butter. As the family gets stoned, Graham accidentally blurts out Mindy’s breakup to their parents, ruining the mood.