Over the last few years, Netflix has come to give Hallmark and Lifetime a run for their money when it comes to churning out new Christmas movies. And, in classic Netflix style, the streaming giant has even managed to turn them into bankable ongoing franchises. This November saw the debut of The Princess Switch 3, for instance.
2020’s A California Christmas went down a storm with Netflix subscribers, who ate up the story of a rich real estate scion who pretends to be a farmhand to swindle a hardworking young woman out of her land, but ends up falling for her. A big part of its appeal was the chemistry between stars and real-life married couple Josh and Lauren Swickard, who also wrote and produced. This Christmas, the Swickards are back for A California Christmas: City Lights.
This time around, unlikely lovebirds Joseph and Callie are pulled out of their contented life on the farm after family obligations call them back to the big city. As Callie struggles to adjust to inner-city life and Joseph buckles under the pressure, the couple’s happy ending looks to be under threat. Can love win out in time for Christmas? We’re going to take a wild stab in the dark and say that, yeah, it can.
The California Christmas films aren’t anything you haven’t seen before, then, but Netflix users can’t get enough of them. As per FlixPatrol, City Lights is currently the third most popular title on the platform the world over, even managing to push back juggernaut action flick Red Notice into fourth place on the chart, which is none too shabby a feat considering the Dwayne Johnson vehicle has been dominating Netflix for the past month.
You can stream both A California Christmas and its sequel A California Christmas: City Lights wherever you are in the world on Netflix now.