Netflix is betting that audiences will happily relive Christmas over and over again. On Thursday, the streamer unveiled the first trailer for In a Holidaze, a romantic sci-fi comedy starring Maddie Ziegler as a young woman who cannot escape the same holiday gathering no matter how hard she tries. The film arrives on Netflix on December 2, 2026, positioning it near the front of the holiday release window.
The trailer introduces Ziegler's character as an aimless twenty-something who makes what the logline calls a romantic mistake of epic proportions. Instead of moving past it, she wakes up to find herself stuck in a loop, replaying the same Christmas at her family's cabin with the same relatives, the same traditions and the same awkward encounters. Each reset forces her to confront what she actually wants from her life and her relationships.
A Familiar Premise With a Holiday Twist
Time-loop stories have become a reliable Hollywood staple, but In a Holidaze applies the structure to a Christmas cabin setting, blending science fiction, romance and comedy. The premise places the emotional weight on its lead character's self-discovery rather than on explaining the mechanics of the loop itself. That approach puts Ziegler at the center of the film, a notable step for an actress whose screen work has largely been supporting or ensemble-based since her breakout in the Dance Moms franchise and her appearances in several high-profile music videos.
Director Tiffany Paulsen, known for her work in the young-adult and holiday romance space, helms the project. Paulsen's background suggests a light touch with the material, which the trailer appears to confirm: montages of repeated family dinners, snow-covered exteriors and escalating comic frustration anchor the two-minute preview.
A Deep and Unusually Eclectic Ensemble
Ziegler is joined by a cast that mixes veteran screen presence with younger talent. Rob Lowe, Graham Phillips, Elias Kacavas, Patton Oswalt, Jackie Sandler, Gil Bellows and Andrea Anders round out the ensemble. The combination of Lowe's long-established leading-man history, Oswalt's comedic instincts and a younger cohort led by Ziegler gives the film a wide tonal range to work with.
Lowe and Oswalt in particular suggest the film is aiming for appeal across generations, a common strategy for holiday releases that need to draw family viewing groups rather than a single demographic. Phillips and Kacavas, meanwhile, appear positioned within the love-triangle and romantic-confusion elements that drive the plot's central mistake and its eventual resolution.
Netflix's Holiday Playbook
The December 2 date places In a Holidaze squarely in the window when streaming platforms compete hardest for seasonal viewing. Netflix has leaned heavily into original holiday titles in recent years, and a high-concept loop story with a recognizable cast fits that strategy. The film's exact runtime has not been announced, and no early critical reception is available; TMDb currently lists the title with a 0/10 rating based on no user votes, which is standard for unreleased projects.
What the trailer does make clear is the film's central hook: a protagonist who must stop treating Christmas as something to survive and start treating it as a puzzle to solve. Whether audiences respond to yet another loop narrative will depend on how sharply the screenplay distinguishes this cabin from the many others that have hosted holiday redemption arcs.
In a Holidaze premieres on Netflix on December 2, 2026.
Source: Hollywood Reporter