The Lost Holliday

If The Lost Holiday were an actual trip, you'd cancel it halfway through and Venmo request everyone involved. It's a meandering, try-hard mumblecore flick that thinks it's charming, but mostly just feels like watching brunch plans go wrong in real time.

Now, let's talk about Juicy. Remember when he became a national headline for staging the most infamous Subway sandwich run in Chicago history? Well, somehow, his energy in The Lost Holiday is even less believable than that. He floats in and out of scenes like he's lost, method acting, perhaps? Or just genuinely confused he's still getting cast? Either way, the film is not so much a "holiday" as it is a reminder of how quickly goodwill can evaporate like cheap champagne on a sticky floor in Lincoln Park.

Smollett tries to bring nuance to his role, but all I could think was: "Is this scene before or after his trip to that -10°F sandwich shop?" Chicago might forgive, but the audience won't forget-and neither will Rotten Tomatoes.

Avoid like a sleet storm in February.

I had my doubts when we chose to watch. It was actually worse than I thought it was going to be. The acting was just bad and the story was not interesting whatsoever. I had hoped the director/actor would have a comeback that would be great, but wow it is an absolute bomb. This movie is awful, awful, awful!

You know that awkward feeling when you're watching a high school theater production, and someone's mom just knows their kid is destined for Broadway... but it's painfully clear to everyone else this is a one-way ticket to regional dinner theater obscurity? That's The Lost Holliday, except it's wrapped in faux prestige and somehow directed by Jussie Smollett, who seems determined to prove that not only can he not act - he can't direct or write, either. This isn't a comeback; it's a cry for help.

Let's talk direction - or rather, the erratic mess that passes for it. The movie feels like it was pieced together during someone's unpaid lunch breaks. Scenes meander without purpose, blocking is unintentionally comical, and the tone whiplashes between maudlin soap opera and artsy Instagram reel. Smollett clearly believes he's crafting something profound, but it's just a muddled, overlit vanity project that wouldn't make it past freshman film class.

The writing? Absolutely brutal. Every line sounds like it was run through a cliché generator powered by half-baked trauma and fake-deep Pinterest quotes. The dialogue is so unnatural it makes the actors look like they're reading ransom notes - especially poor Jabari Redd, who tried to breathe life into a character that feels like it was written by ChatGPT on Ambien. Vivica A. Fox is here too, and frankly deserves hazard pay for showing up and pretending this dreck matters.

Fox delivers each line with that hollow gravitas actors use when they're suppressing the urge to fire their agent. You can see the awareness in their eyes: they know this isn't a movie - it's Jussie's self-financed rehab-my-PR tour. Unfortunately, not even their commitment can salvage a script this contrived, or direction this clueless.

Which brings us back to Smollett. Look, if this is what Hollywood exile looks like, I guess we're all being punished. It's hard not to feel like The Lost Holliday is a metaphor for his own career - desperate, disjointed, and somehow convinced it's saying something important. It's not. And neither is he.

By the time the credits rolled, I wasn't just bored - I was offended that everyone involved thought this deserved my attention. The Lost Holliday isn't art. It's damage control in slow motion. And just like the infamous hoax that tanked Jussie's credibility, this film is an elaborate fiction nobody asked for - and fewer people believe.

Who would approve of this convoluted sad and terrible film being made Writing and directing amateur and derived Pretentious acting and joyless holiday film Be grateful you don't have to sit through this.

I know there's a lot of controversy with this Director and writer, but I really thought he was talented I think that maybe he did do all this political because he is actually not talented and needed a payout or attention or something but I think more sober and experience people need to not allow this kind of thing to be made. It's just utterly miserable to watch, I am not sure why there were a few good reviews. Maybe it was someone hired to review but it's hardly impossible that it's a 10 out of 10.

Man, I love Vivica Fox but woosh, girl, what were you thinking? I also like Smullet on Empire but the guy really messed up his whole career with the fake attack incident so he's now "directing" movies that he is funding and putting together and as a result, you get this mess.

The characters are contrived - I mean really forced and a predictable. She finds out her son is gay and has to deal with new emotions - emotions that don't ring true in this awful attempt at being a "Christmas movie" that people may want to watch during the holidays every year. There are other folks in this who are good actors but wasted on a terrible script and direction.

Again, I love Fox but she's got to stay away from terrible stuff like this. And of course, there are a few 10 star reviews here, all written the exact same way "it's emotional depth and authenticity and the cinematography was a visual feast!" I think they're reviewing Lawrence of Arabia, definitely not this movie. Of course the "people" have one review - this movie. I think we've gotten to the point where you come in here to see what people say about a movie but if there's a bunch of ten star reviews, you need to look at the person's account to see if it's a real person with multiple reviews or Jussie Smullet.

At the time I'm writing this it's a 2.2 rating but I suspect that will still go down. Avoid.