Jingle Bell Heist Review: Netflix’s Latest Rom-Com is A Holiday Caper With Surprising Twists

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Netflix’s Christmas rom-com, Jingle Bell Heist, follows a pair of thieves attempting a daring heist on Christmas Eve in a major London store. The lighthearted film stars Olivia Holt and Connor Swindells, blending Christmas cheer with a bit of criminal adventure. Meanwhile, Maxwell Sterling (Peter Serafinowicz) profits from the busy holiday shopping season – and isn’t afraid to commit fraud to increase his earnings.

Directed by Michael Fimognari, who also made the Netflix film To All the Boys: Always and Forever (2021), Jingle Bell Heist is a romantic comedy co-written by Abby McDonald and Amy Reed of Bridgerton. The film features a couple who are a bit like Bonnie and Clyde, and tells a story of redemption where the romance develops in a relaxed and believable way.

The movie begins with a quick glimpse of the heist, then flashes back to two weeks earlier. We meet Sophia (Olivia Holt), the main character, who’s a small-time thief working at Sterling, a famous department store in London. Right away, the film shows us that Sophia is a confident and theatrical thief who enjoys stealing from unpleasant customers.

For a long time, she’s managed to avoid getting caught, but even the most skilled thief eventually slips up. Nick ‘O’ Connor (Connor Swindells), a former convict who used to work as a security consultant at Sterling’s Department Store (and stole from them!), is watching her. Nick is drawn to Sophia’s apparent love of stealing and decides to blackmail her: she either steals things for him, or he’ll reveal evidence of her crimes – captured on security cameras – to Sterling.

Connor Swindells convincingly portrays Nick as someone defeated, insecure, and a bit of a fool, making you wonder if he’s actually capable of the crimes he’s accused of. Sophia quickly realizes Nick isn’t what he seems, but circumstances force them to work together to rob a store. Sophia’s mother is seriously ill in the hospital and needs specialist care that isn’t readily available through the national health service, meaning they have to pay for private treatment. This requires a lot of money. However, their initial robbery attempt fails when they discover the store was already robbed, leading them to plan a much larger heist – targeting a secret fortune hidden by Maxwell.

Jingle Bell Heist Delivers Surprising Twists Without Rom-Com Clichés

In Jingle Bell Heist, Sophia and Nick form a real connection, both driven by difficult family situations that lead them to plan the heist. Nick desperately needs money to prove he can support his daughter, or he risks losing her to his ex-wife who might move away. Sophia, meanwhile, is trying to raise funds to cover her mother’s medical expenses.

Even though the story involves serious events, it remains lighthearted, which is both a strength and a weakness. The movie struggles to create genuine tension and doesn’t quite capture the excitement of the robbery. However, the two main characters build a believable and comfortable friendship as they plan the heist.

What makes Jingle Bell Heist so enjoyable is how comically bad the main characters are at pulling off their robbery. The movie embraces their silly mistakes and flawed plan, finding humor in their imperfections. It’s a charming film that celebrates the fun in failure.

The movie successfully makes us root for the heist by presenting a truly deserving target: Sterling, played by Peter Serafinowicz, is a dishonest insurance fraudster. He fakes robberies at his own store to collect insurance money on the stolen goods, essentially profiting from crime. While Serafinowicz isn’t often shown actively being villainous, his few lines of dialogue perfectly capture the arrogance of a self-serving businessman who will stop at nothing to protect his profits.

The Netflix movie doesn’t focus too heavily on romance, but Olivia Holt delivers a strong performance in scenes with genuine chemistry. Even though Jingle Bell Heist has a straightforward story, it includes surprising twists that make it enjoyable.

Holt and Swindells deliver fantastic performances as Sophia and Nick, and Lucy Punch is excellent as the scheming, embittered Cynthia Sterling. But it’s Holt and Swindells who truly bring the heart and warmth to the story, which are key ingredients for a good Christmas film.

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2025-11-26 10:58