For those craving their next holiday romantic comedy, or more aptly, a friend-com, Netflix has you covered with its latest festive flick, Best. Christmas. Ever! Differing from its traditional rom-com formula, but still delivering plenty of familiar holiday cheer, Best. Christmas. Ever! is a lighthearted family film for anyone looking to kick off the holiday season with something sweet. Elevated by its fantastic cast (led by Heather Graham and Brandy Norwood), the film celebrates female friendship and oozes with festive spirit. Which may be thanks to Best. Christmas. Ever! being director Mary Lambert’s second Christmas film after Netflix’s A Castle for Christmas.

Returning to Netflix with her second Christmas film, Mary Lambert is perhaps best known for directing the very different 1989 film, Pet Sematary, as well as the aforementioned Netflix Christmas movie. MovieWeb recently sat down with Mary Lambert to discuss her latest movie, and why she returned to the director’s chair for another Christmas film.

Lambert’s Love for the Characters
Best. Christmas. Ever. Release Date November 16, 2023 Director Mary Lambert Cast Heather Graham, Brandy Norwood, Jason Biggs Runtime 1hr 20min Genres Comedy, Romance
Upon reading the script, it didn’t take long for Lambert to fall in love with the film and its characters, commenting, “The first thing that attracted me was the humor and the humanity of the main characters.” Lambert elaborates:

Charlotte (Heather Graham) [is] a little flawed. She’s insecure, she has jealousy, she’s ambitious, she’s not happy with her life. But, we’re able to laugh at that. […] we’re able to see the absurdity of that insecurity or jealousy, and laugh at it.

Lambert goes on to praise Brandy Norwood’s performance as Jackie, a character who “we think has the perfect life.” Lambert states, “[Brandy is] so smooth and so sweet. She just nails it […] We find out that her life is not exactly what it seems. And so the movie has some funny, silly, ironic joking around. But then it has a real emotional heart in the third act.”

Best. Christmas. Ever! sports a great cast. The film stars the likes of Heather Graham (Boogie Nights, Suitable Flesh), Brandy Norwood (Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, I Still Know What You Did Last Summer), Jason Biggs (American Pie, Orange Is the New Black), and Matt Cedaño (Power, Z Nation), who all deliver engaging, and charming performances in their roles. When it came to the casting process, and how the four leads were chosen, Lambert said, “Casting is the first step towards production. And for me, it’s the beginning of rehearsal. Because it’s the first time you hear the words spoken. Some actors don’t read, they don’t feel like they need to read, or you don’t feel like they need to read because they have a body of work.” She continued:

All the adult leads in this movie have such large bodies of work. You go to that as a director, I do, and you watch previous performances to see — how do they pivot? What’s the range here? What are their strengths?

Related: The Most Memorable “Best Friends” in Romantic Comedies

The Choices Behind Brandy Norwood’s Songs
Netflix

While Brandy Norwood is an outstanding actor, Norwood derives the majority of her fame through her Grammy-winning musical career. She is perhaps most recognizable for her 1997s “Missing You” and her Grammy-winning track, “The Boy is Mine.” She combined her talents as an artist and an actress in the beloved musical Roger’s and Hammerstein’s Cinderella, and now with Best. Christmas. Ever! Speaking on if Norwood was cast with her vocal talents in mind, Lambert commented:

Brandy has just done some things that I’ve really, really loved as an actress. And I really wanted her as an actress. I wasn’t thinking, ‘We need to get somebody that can sing,’ even though that was always in the plot. But it’s not an important part of the story. She doesn’t win a singing contest or something.

Lambert continued, “So I didn’t really think about it until I knew that Brandy was going to do the movie. And as soon as I knew she was going to be in the movie, I’m like ‘…she’s gotta sing.'” Lambert quickly spoke about how the original script was slightly different, and why it changed after knowing Brandy was on board. “The original script is slightly different at the end, and it’s not about Brandy singing,” said Lambert. “But I just knew it would be fantastic because Brandy is so amazing live, it’s just so much fun to watch her sing, and I don’t know — what can I say, I’m a fan,” praised Lambert.

“As soon as she was set I was like, ‘Let’s get some Christmas songs,'” said Lambert before analyzing how she chose the movie’s particular tunes. “So, [with] “Let It Snow,” I wanted something where Jackie and Rob (Jason Biggs) could flirt,” said Lambert. “Charlotte sees their bond and gets more anxious and more jealous. So the song had to be kind of romantic […] I wanted something that sounded like a Christmas carol that you’ve heard before, because I didn’t want something composed for the event, like a rock opera. And it’s a good song, and [it] also had to be simple to play on the guitar. It had to fit a lot of criteria.”

Lambert continued, discussing “Santa Claus Is Coming to Town,” the last song in the movie. “That’s what the movie’s about,” she said. “You couldn’t find a lyric that typifies what this movie’s about [better than] “Santa Claus Is Coming To Town.”

Related: 10 Singers Who Became Great Actors

Lambert’s Second Netflix Christmas Movie
Netflix

Following her 2021 Christmas flick starring Brooke Shields (The Blue Lagoon, That 70s Show) and Cary Elwes (The Princess Bride, Saw), Mary Lambert returns to Netflix once again with another festive film. “I had a really good experience doing [Castle for Christmas],” explained Lambert. She continued:

“I had a really great creative relationship with Christina Rogers, who’s the Senior Executive, and with Brad Kravoy, who is the executive producer on both of [the films], and sometimes when you have a team together, it’s really good to repeat it. You move a little faster the second time, you know where the soft spots are, you know where the hard spots are.

“When you have an entire film to make, there’s so many things you have to do, and you’re just looking for something that’s already in place,” added Lambert. “Can we build on this? Can we use that wall? Do we have to build a new wall? And I really thought the script for Best. Christmas. Ever! was fun and different, and not just a total formula story,” said Lambert.

Lambert concludes by briefly discussing how important A Castle for Christmas was for her, and another reason why she came back to Netflix with Best. Christmas. Ever! “I’ll confess, the first one, Castle for Christmas — it’s been my dream all my life to make a movie in Scotland,” said Lambert. “My first film, Siesta, premiered at Edinburgh Film Festival. And at the time I had a lot of friends in Scotland, and I’d say, ‘Someday, I’m going to come back and make a movie.’ And your life goes by and [you do] a lot of things, and you never go back to Scotland. And all of a sudden, this just landed on my plate. It was like a Christmas present,” joked Lambert.

And now she’s given us one in the form of a new movie. If you’re In the mood for a fun Christmas film about friendship, then Best. Christmas. Ever! is now available to stream on Netflix. Follow the link below, and check out the trailer:

Watch on Netflix