When Avery and Logan split up 10 years ago, things didn’t really end on a good note.
Avery’s mom had recently passed away. And while Logan did all he could to comfort her, Avery just couldn’t get past her mom’s death. Everything about their small hometown reminded her of her mom—including Logan—and she couldn’t wait to get away and start over.
It’s not that she wanted to break up with Logan, per se. But her move overseas to London wasn’t exactly a profession of love and devotion, either. So, the childhood sweethearts ended their relationship and went their separate ways.
Well, Avery is stateside once again. Her career is going well. She’s helping her dad sell the house she grew up in. And she’s about to spend Christmas with her new beau, Cameron, and his affluent family.
And frankly, Avery really needs this visit to go well.
It’s not clear what Avery has done to earn the ire of Erica, Cameron’s very particular mother. But the woman despises Avery.
Maybe Erica just doesn’t think Avery is good enough for her son. Maybe it’s the fact that Avery wore torn jeans to a fancy Christmas party. Or maybe it’s the fact that her own daughter’s new boyfriend, Logan, is so charming that it’s set the standard impossibly high.
Oh yes, it’s the same Logan alright. But upon realizing this, rather than tell the truth about their shared past, Avery pretends she’s never met him before. Logan tries to fess up, but Avery strikes him a deal: If Logan will keep her secret and help her get Erica’s approval, Avery will help him write up a business proposal that will earn him a promotion.
Logan’s hesitant, but he really needs this win at work. And truth be told, he’s still got a bit of a soft spot for Avery. So he agrees.
It’ll be our little secret, they agree.
Avery and Logan eventually talk about their breakup, each apologizing for how things went down. And they do things to help each other secretly to make up for the mistakes of the past.
Logan is very close to his family, even helping his mom and grandma financially.
Erica takes church attendance very seriously. So Logan (trying to earn Avery some brownie points) volunteers Avery to do a Scripture reading at the Christmas Eve service. Unfortunately, Avery accidentally gets high just before the service starts. And Logan is unable to cancel the reading in time. So Avery stands before the church and gives a “largely inaccurate” recounting of the birth of Jesus.
She hallucinates and thinks a statue of Mary is speaking to her. She prompts the choir to sing “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang. And while Erica is initially mortified, she warms up to Avery after the priest tells them it was the most engaged he’s ever seen the congregation. And he praises Avery, since many of the children in attendance requested to come back next week.
A church choir sings “O Holy Night.” We hear some readings from the Bible during a service. A crucifix hangs in the background. Someone says, “Namaste.” Another person refers to Christmas as Jesus’ birthday, noting that he would be more than 2,000 years old now. A teenage boy is called “Satan in a fuzzy sweater.”
When a family pet falls ill, Erica prays fervently for it, crossing herself in prayer.
Part of the reason Avery doesn’t want anyone to know she used to date Logan is because she’s worried Cameron’s family will picture them having sex. We don’t see anything, but context makes it clear that they were, in fact, having premarital sex when they dated before. It’s obvious they are each having sex with their new paramours, too, since they sleep in the same beds together. Couples kiss as well.
Logan walks in on a couple making out and realizes they are each having an affair. He agrees not to tell their secret in order to keep the peace for Christmas. However, the truth comes out later. The man’s wife was aware of the affair and allowed it to continue. But the woman’s husband is deeply hurt by her betrayal. (Their adult children are also negatively impacted by this news.)
Cassie, Logan’s girlfriend, suggestively hints she wants lingerie for Christmas. He obliges, but the gift is accidentally delivered to Erica by one of her sons, embarrassing several people involved. She holds the undergarments up to her body hoping to remedy the situation by pretending they could be worn as normal clothing.
We never see it happen, but it becomes pretty clear that Cameron cheats on Avery.
A narrated cartoon at the film’s start shows Avery and Logan making out in the back of a car before dipping below the seats with clothes flying. We also see a drawing of them lying in bed together and another of them kissing.
Logan’s grandmother, who suffers from dementia, is prone to making sexually charged, highly inappropriate comments about the love lives of herself and others. She hits on her grandson after forgetting who he is. Another woman jokingly hits on Logan in front of her husband.
Logan’s boss makes some derogatory remarks about marriage, since he’s going through a divorce. Another man tells Logan he is in a “loveless” marriage, to which Logan replies that’s just how marriage is when you get old. When Logan and Avery first split up, he tried to convince her to stay in the States by proposing to her (which did not go over well). There are several unkind jokes about the age difference between Logan (who is in his 30s) and his girlfriend, Cassie (who is still in college).
A news report mentions the legalization of same-sex marriage.
Logan punches a cardboard cutout of a snowman in anger. A man whacks his son in the head after the teen falls asleep during a family portrait.
An elderly woman says she’s bored but notes she isn’t “lucky” enough to have died from it just yet.
There are six uses of the s-word. We also hear “d–mit” and “h—.” God’s name is misused about 20 times.
People drink alcohol throughout the film. Avery downs champagne quickly after a foul interaction with Erica. Erica insults Avery for not bringing a quality wine to a party. There are some jokes about drinking too much. Cassie jokes that she doesn’t remember her 21st birthday party because of how much she drank.
Callum, Cameron and Cassie’s younger brother, is scolded for drinking at a party while underage. Avery accidentally consumes edible marijuana after mistaking it for candy, and she gets very high. The drugs belonged to Callum; so Avery and Logan get into a weird blackmail situation where they’re forced to buy the adolescent booze in exchange for keeping their secrets. Someone buys Avery more marijuana gummies as a joke for Christmas.
Logan pretends to be drunk to throw someone off the scent of a surprise party.
Back when Logan and Avery were dating, Logan tried to manipulate her into staying by first proposing to her and then stating her mom would be disappointed in her for running away. This hurts Avery deeply, and their friends and family all agree he crossed a line.
While high, Avery eats nearly a dozen Christmas cookies that were meant for a cookie exchange. Rather than fess up, she pretends that Erica’s beloved dog ate the treats. Erica panics, informing Avery that chocolate is toxic to dogs and rushing her pet to the vet to have its stomach pumped. Avery goes with her and secretly tells the vet the truth, asking the man to help her sell the lie. At first, he refuses since it breaks several ethical codes. However, he gives in after sympathizing with Avery over troubles with in-laws. Even though he doesn’t need to operate on the dog, he still charges Avery the full amount for the procedure. And Avery willingly accepts the praise that Erica offers in response to Avery’s “bravery” and “help.”
Callum overhears Avery and Logan spilling several secrets, and he blackmails them throughout the rest of the film to keep those secrets. Several people call him a sociopath, and he gets excited when his family’s Christmas is ruined.
Erica is pretty hoity-toity. She constantly belittles Avery for not being “classy” enough. Avery, in turn, insults Erica behind her back, namely, pointing out how weird it is that Erica seemingly never ages.
Many characters lie, and more are hurt when the truth finally comes out. A woman is mean and bossy toward her husband. Logan’s boss is kind of a jerk, refusing to promote Logan and repeatedly taking credit for the younger man’s hard work. We hear references to Bridgerton and other problematic TV shows on the news. Cassie is constantly on her phone, often ignoring the people around her.
Once you tell a lie, you usually have to tell several more in order to keep people from discovering the first deception. It can get messy, and people can get hurt when the truth finally comes out. It’s kind of the reason they say, Secrets don’t make friends.
Avery and Logan learn that the hard way. But then, since this is Christmas romcom, Netflix doesn’t really worry about unpacking that too much. People just sort of apologize and move on with their lives in order to make way for the love story of the couple you’ve been rooting for the whole film.
And not to get on my soap box, but really, the first lie wouldn’t have even been necessary if it weren’t for the pervasive normalization of premarital sex. Seriously, if Avery and Logan hadn’t been sleeping together when they dated, then Avery wouldn’t have worried about her boyfriend picturing the two of them having sex. She wouldn’t have lied about knowing Logan, and the film probably would have turned out quite differently.
Of course, a lot of other people were lying, too, so who knows how the film might’ve turned out.
Besides those problems, families should also note a number of extramarital affairs and many jokes revolving around drug and alcohol abuse. And we get several uses of the s-word, as well.
Our Little Secret isn’t the most egregious holiday schlock, but it certainly isn’t a Christmas masterpiece either.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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