The goofiest, strangest Christmas movie of 2024 has already taken over Netflix, but it seems that audiences are in the mood for more festive cheer. According to data obtained by FlixPatrol, “The Merry Gentlemen” is the latest holiday-themed caper to sleigh ride to the top of the charts in the United States. In the film, Chad Michael Murray and Britt Robertson play the lovestruck protagonists who are united by holiday magic, but there’s more to this one than mushy, feel-good romance.

At first glance, “The Merry Gentleman” echoes the spotlight-obsessed ageism that informs “The Substance,” aka this year’s most bonkers and bloody body horror movie. Coralie Fargeat’s splatterfest movie tells the story of a TV aerobics instructor who gets relieved of her duties as the network wants a younger star on its screens. Meanwhile, Peter Sullivan’s “The Merry Gentlemen” sees Robertson’s character, Ashley, get ousted from a Broadway Christmas show in favor of a dancer who grew up admiring her. 

Fortunately, Ashley’s firing results in a more positive outcome than the grisly events of “The Substance.” Instead of unleashing bloody mayhem, she hires a group of hunky male dancers to put on a show that could save her parents’ arts venue from closing down. That’s how she meets the cute dancer Luke (Murray), and sparks fly between the pair. It’s a classic rom-com set-up, but “The Merry Gentlemen” pokes fun at its premise.

Admittedly, comparing “The Merry Gentlemen” to “The Substance” is a stretch beyond both films having protagonists who lose their jobs because they’re deemed too old by age-obsessed employers. If anything, the movie is more like “Magic Mike,” as Luke and other muscular hunks spend a substantial portion of the movie dancing around on stage to the delight of adoring onlookers. Sure, it isn’t as risqué as Channing Tatum’s stripper franchise, but it’s definitely influenced by it, so viewers can expect enough heat to melt the snow.

While speaking to TUDUM, Chad Michael Murray revealed that they didn’t want to make another rom-com. The goal of the film is to subvert the audience’s expectations and create something more self-deprecating and out of the ordinary:

“We got to change things up a little bit and push the envelope … We take a lot of the tropes that have been created for this particular genre and poke fun at them in such a tasteful way.”

Only time will tell if Netflix’s holiday treat will eventually rank among the best Christmas movies of all time. Still, if you’re looking for a snow-capped romance that isn’t afraid to start a fire, you can do a lot worse than “The Merry Gentlemen.”