Movie · 2025 · Romance, Crime, Comedy · 1h 36m · PG-13 · English
Curator score: 0.9/10 (89.3K ratings)
'Tis the season to give. And take.
Overview
Two down-on-their-luck hourly workers team up to rob a posh London department store on Christmas Eve. Will they steal each other's hearts along the way?
Ratings
Curator score: 0.9/10
IMDb: 5.8/10
Letterboxd: 2.47/5
Metacritic: 58
TMDB: 6.0/10
Director
Michael Fimognari
Production
ACE Entertainment, Tea Shop Productions
Cast
Olivia Holt, Connor Swindells, Lucy Punch, Peter Serafinowicz, Natasha Joseph, Poppy Drayton, Michael Salami, Belal Sabir, Jess Lloyd-Jones, Mariah Louca, Ellie Nunn, James Dryden, Alara-Star Khan, Chyna-Rose Frederick, Nicola Alexis, Ed Kear, Ada Player, Homer Todiwala, Brooke Henzell, Des Fleming
Where to watch
Netflix, Netflix Standard with Ads
Curator Review
Verdict
A breezy, low-stakes Christmas caper-romance with enough charm, color, and playful chemistry to pass the time, but it leans hard on clichés and thin plotting. The heist mechanics are more cute than clever, so enjoyment depends on whether you want festive nonsense over actual suspense.
Best for
Viewers who like light holiday rom-coms with a crime twist
Fans of glossy, easygoing streaming movies
People in the mood for rich-vs-poor wish-fulfillment and seasonal escapism
Viewers who don't mind a silly plot if the leads have chemistry
Skip if
You want a smart or intricate heist movie
You get impatient with obvious rom-com beats
You need strong logic or believable crime details
You prefer sharper comedy or more distinctive filmmaking
Overview
Jingle Bell Heist is the kind of Christmas movie that knows exactly what it is: fizzy, disposable, and designed to glide by on charm. The premise has a nice hook — two broke workers plotting a holiday robbery in a fancy London department store — and the movie gets mileage out of the festive setting, bright styling, and class-conscious fantasy of sticking it to the wealthy.
Worth noting
What it does not have is much interest in making the heist feel especially smart. The plotting is loose, the crime details are goofy, and the film often settles for familiar rom-com rhythms instead of building real tension. Still, if you’re in the right mood, the silliness can be part of the appeal rather than a dealbreaker.
Bottom line
The cast helps keep it afloat, especially when the movie leans into banter and holiday-movie sparkle. It’s best approached as a comfort-watch for people who want a playful seasonal caper more than a polished genre piece. If you need sharper writing or a more satisfying robbery, this will feel slight; if you want Christmas nonsense with a wink, it mostly delivers.
Top Letterboxd reviews
theo (2.5★) · 1954 likes
wearing black and white stripes to rob a safe was too unserious
⋆˚࿔ sarawr 𝜗𝜚˚⋆ · 1749 likes
not really how DNA works but fun anyway
Pipingskie (1.5★) · 1453 likes
They pulled off an entire heist but the real crime was wasting my time.
Helô (3★) · 731 likes
ATTENZIONE PICKPOCKET!!!!!!!!!!!
Jade talks too much🎅🏻🎄 (5★) · 700 likes
I love christmas & wacky nonsense & seeing rich assholes lose🖕.So obviously this was a banger🎅🏻.
Could've used more Lucy Punch though🍸
1963 · Comedy, Mystery, Romance · 1h 53m · NR · Curator 8.5/10 (289K ratings) · Where to watch: Amazon Prime Video, fuboTV, Philo, Pure Flix, Amazon Prime Video with Ads, Bloodstream
Blends romance, comedy, and crime with a polished, breezy tone and strong chemistry.