How to Be Single does end with some of the characters in relationships. However, main character Alice slips the bonds of couplehood to fulfil her dream of solo hiking the Grand Canyon. “The thing about being single is, you should cherish it,” she says. Try to imagine hearing that line in the world of the Christmas rom-com, where being single is something to be solved. While it’s obviously played for laughs, I found the opening scene of Holidate disturbing, as Emma Roberts’ relatives alternately commiserate and castigate her for her single status. I genuinely cannot imagine a universe in which my loved ones would talk to me like that and yet, here, single-shaming is presented as a casual inevitability. Being single is far from being something to be cherished in Christmas films.
