Our Little Secret begins with the backstory of Logan (Ian Harding) and Avery (Lindsay Lohan), childhood best-friends-turned-lovers, told—for some reason—through animation. Then, it’s 2014 and Avery is moving to London for her dream job, which Logan struggles to accept. He thinks she’s running away from her father and childhood home following her mother’s death. After they both say hurtful things, they break up and don’t speak to each other for a decade. This passing of time is signified through a montage highlighting big events, including Netflix-owned media, such as Stranger Things, and it’s really odd. A simple “10 Years Later” often works wonders. Maybe I’m just not convinced anyone should be reminded of what happened between 2014-2024.
In the present day, Avery is a successful business consultant and Logan works in commercial and industrial real estate. They are reunited during the Christmas holidays when they discover that their partners, Cam (Jon Rudnitsky) and Cassie (Katie Baker), are siblings, and they must live together under one roof. Avery convinces Logan it would be better if they pretended not to know each other, which he reluctantly agrees to. Then Logan convinces Avery to help him write a business proposal if he helps her look good in front of Cam and Cassie’s hard-to-impress mother, Erica (Kristin Chenoweth), who is always commenting on Avery’s shortcomings.
Things get all the more complicated when 18-year-old Callum (Jake Brennan), Cam and Cassie’s younger sibling, uncovers Logan and Avery’s secret and tries to blackmail them. Obviously everything blows up at the end when their secret is finally revealed—but it’s not the only one, for a few family members have been hiding secrets of their own. The result is a lovely, and a perhaps all-too-familiar, explosion of dysfunctional family dynamics that make all Christmas movies both relatable and worthwhile.
For a Christmas romcom, Our Little Secret is impressively light on the romance, which could be a personal choice from Lohan. Instead, it’s more screwball comedy with a handful of farcical situations (such as Avery accidentally being stoned at church and blaming the dog for eating all the chocolate cookies) and endless witty banter between Logan and Avery. “Can you sign Cassie’s report cards, or do they have to go home to her parents?” Avery quips, as Cassie is a young, “professional student.” This commentary is additionally amusing considering Harding rose to prominence after playing a teacher who dates his student in Pretty Little Liars. Unfortunately, American humour struggles to move past poop and fart jokes, and often comes across as overly stressful or cringeworthy. Luckily, screenwriter Hailey DeDominicis keeps these to a minimum—but it was on thin ice at one point. The humour does best when Lohan and Harding are left to their wisecracks.
Just like in Falling For Christmas and Irish Wish, Lohan shines here, truly enjoying her time back in front of the camera in these roles which make-up a three-picture deal with Netflix. Her charisma and likeability are what made Lohan so successful in the first place, even when she was a child starring in the likes of The Parent Trap. Despite anything Lohan may have been through in her life thus far, she’s still got the it factor, alongside a loyal fanbase. It’s a joy to have her back on our screens again, but it’s not just Lohan who pulls her weight here. The entire cast, including Dan Bucatinsky, Tim Meadows, Judy Reyes, and Ash Santos, are wonderful and work together beautifully.
Our Little Secret was in good hands with director Stephen Herek (Critters, Don’t Tell Mom the Babysitter’s Dead). The film is well-shot and visually appealing, despite the colour grading making everyone look a little orangey compared to Lohan’s stark paleness. It also helps that it’s way better in every regard than the usual Hallmark-esque flicks Netflix churns out every year. For many, Our Little Secret will get lost in the sea of Christmas flicks just like it. But for those who hold Lindsay Lohan close in their hearts, such as myself, this is a delightful treat that will be rewatched each year.
Our Little Secret is available to watch on Netflix.
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