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Summary Sophia (Olivia Holt), a sharp-witted retail worker, and Nick (Connor Swindells), a down-on-his-luck repairman, are small-time thieves with their eyes on the same Christmas Eve score: robbing London’s most notorious department store. Forced into an uneasy alliance, as secrets surface and feelings for each other deepen, Sophia and Nick put...
Directed By: Michael Fimognari
Written By: Abby McDonald, Amy Reed
Jingle Bell Heist
58
6.0
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Summary Sophia (Olivia Holt), a sharp-witted retail worker, and Nick (Connor Swindells), a down-on-his-luck repairman, are small-time thieves with their eyes on the same Christmas Eve score: robbing London’s most notorious department store. Forced into an uneasy alliance, as secrets surface and feelings for each other deepen, Sophia and Nick put...
Directed By: Michael Fimognari
Written By: Abby McDonald, Amy Reed
Where to Watch
Coming Soon
Not available in your country?
ExpressVPN
Get 3 Extra months free
$6.67/mth
Top Cast
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 5 Critic Reviews
58
40% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
40% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
20% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Metascore
Mixed or Average Based on 5 Critic Reviews
58
40% Positive
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
40% Mixed
2 Reviews
2 Reviews
20% Negative
1 Review
1 Review
Nov 26, 2025
It’s not just "Netflix holiday rom-com good." It’s actually very, very good.
Nov 26, 2025
At its heart, it is Holt and Swindells’ performances that give the story its warmth and soul — qualities essential to any Christmas movie.
By Emedo Ashibeze FULL REVIEW
Nov 26, 2025
It’s the problem faced when one of these films is raised just above the gutter-level norm, you end up wanting it to be that much better. As it stands, Jingle Bell Heist is as good as it’s getting for now.
Nov 26, 2025
The thoroughly entertaining villains should have played more of a role, as should the store, and the material should have been more comedy-focused and delivered by actors with more of a knack for it. Once this heist was over, they could have spun it out into sequels, where each year a new operation got underway. It's a shame that this one falls so flat.
Nov 29, 2025
Attempts at “suspense” in the heist itself are ineptly handled. The script and the leads strain to wring the “cute” out of this, but that’s in short supply.
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 10 User Ratings
6.0
40% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
40% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
20% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
User Score
Mixed or Average Based on 10 User Ratings
6.0
40% Positive
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
40% Mixed
4 Ratings
4 Ratings
20% Negative
2 Ratings
2 Ratings
Nov 26, 2025
"Jingle Bell Heist" is an above average crime caper turned romcom with just about enough to give it an edge over its more anemic peers. It's not anything spectacular but for the type of movie it is with two entertaining performances from Olivia Holt and newcomer Connor Swindells it's a fun movie for the holiday season. The holiday season is typically advertised as the most wonderful time of the year. However, in Jingle Bell Heist, the realities of wealth disparity weigh heavily as desperation and frustration birth a rather ill-conceived plot to rob the villain of its tale. Starting in media res, we’re introduced to our two leads right before the heist begins. The dialogue here is just enough to hint at something deeper between the two before Jingle Bell Heist jumps backwards in time by two weeks. Here, we meet Sophia Martin (Olivia Holt), working at a giant department store, tressed up and ready for the Christmas holidays. The pressure is on for Sophia and the other workers to maintain the store’s immaculate condition for minimal pay, a familiar problem for many. Little does Sophia know that her boss, Maxwell Sterling (Peter Serafinowicz), is not the only one watching. She’s caught the eye of Nick O’Connor (Connor Swindells), a former security consultant, now phone technician, who is tapped into Sterling’s store’s security system. While tapped in, she catches her having achieved a costly sleight of hand, prompting him to confront her and perhaps loop her into his plans to screw Sterling over. Thus, the titular heist is born. Well, until someone beats them to the punch. While Santa Claus would most certainly put Sophia and Nick on his naughty list, the Jingle Bell Heist screenplay, co-written by Abby McDonald and Amy Reed, builds each character’s backstory to give the audience plenty to cling to. For Sophia, she’s literally drowning in debt trying to keep her sick mother alive, yet the medical system she thought might save her (alas, the NHS is just not equipped) is asking for more than she can give. As for Nick, he’s trying to rebuild his life after finishing his prison sentence. However, with an increasingly difficult cost-of-living crisis and now carrying a record on him, it’s nigh impossible for him to try to eke out a living that will satisfy his ex-wife and let him see his daughter. It’s in the fleshing out of these struggles in Jingle Bell Heist that empathy is evoked, even if the plan they hatch and the lengths to which both Sophia and Nick go are incredibly ludicrous. From crashing parties to donning silly get-ups, these two are completely out of their element. It makes sense, though. They are two ordinary people. Up against the incredibly one-note villain, Maxwell, who is played with utmost snobbery by Peter Serafinowicz, failure is more likely than not. And yet, so much is done to ensure that we absolutely need them to succeed. Their success means a hope worthy of the Christmas holiday and spirit. It can be easy for Sophia and Nick’s struggles to fully take over Jingle Bell Heist, and sometimes they do due to a lack of tonal balance. Some mid-film pacing drag doesn’t help either, as the two prepare for the big day, but the scenes themselves help sink the audience further into these characters’ worlds. An argument can be made for reducing these scenes to improve flow, but they can also be read as the calm before the storm they’re about to wade into. However, what helps things from getting too dark is the spots of humor, particularly the physical comedy, that add an extra laugh to things. Whether it’s Olivia Holt sliding dramatically into a security box, the awkwardness of Nick being coached into flirtation, or literally crashing through a roof, there’s enough here to keep things light and silly, even when things hit a little too close to reality. What doesn’t quite hit, despite it being an expected outcome, is the romantic element in Jingle Bell Heist. Part of this is due to a general lack of romantic chemistry between the two leads; their growing partnership resonates more platonically, building a foundation more akin to work colleagues. Because of this, the inclusion of a romantic development, while understandable as part of the genre, ultimately just rang a little hollow. Romance issues aside, Jingle Bell Heist is about the heist of it all, and sometimes, that’s all you need. While the planning is absolutely ludicrous at times, challenging the suspension of disbelief, Sophia and Nick, as characters, with their sad situations and their general earnestness and commitment to the crime, make you desperately want them to succeed even when the plan itself has so many holes in it that you might as well have Swiss Cheese.
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