Aahana Swrup
The Netflix romantic comedy film ‘Meet Me Next Christmas’ is an exciting hunt for true love that follows a woman in a city decked out with the holiday spirit. Layla has always believed in fate. Consequently, when she bumps into James—the right guy—at the wrong time, she agrees to meet the man again a year later to leave their romance up to chance. However, once the time comes around, Layla realizes she doesn’t have the tickets to The Pentatonix Christmas Eve show, where she had agreed to meet James. Thus begins her crazed chase through New York City in search of last-minute tickets to the concert.
Throughout the film, Layla maintains a single-minded focus on retrieving The Pentatonix concert ticket to reunite with James. However, she finds herself doubting her supposedly destined love with the man after embarking on adventure after adventure with Teddy, the concierge who is hellbent on helping Layla with her mission. SPOILERS AHEAD!
James and Layla: The Perfect Airport Meet-Cute
When Layla first meets James, it’s the classic case of the right person at the wrong time. Due to last-minute flight cancellations during the Holiday season, the duo find themselves in the same airport lounge, sharing a couch. Naturally, this leads to conversation, which lasts for hours until James’ rescheduled flight starts its boarding. The chemistry between the couple is evident and would have made for an excellent meet-cute story. Nonetheless, Layla is in a relationship with Tanner and has no plans to go back on her commitment.
Still, James pitches a solution that would allow them to leave their romance up to chance. He proposes that if both of them are single by next Christmas, they should meet up at The Pentatonix Christmas Eve show in New York. Even though Layla is weary of humoring an idea that hinges on the end of her relationship with Tanner, she agrees to the plan. Furthermore, they decide not to share last names, which makes it impossible for them to look each other up online and leave their situation entirely up to fate.
Initially, even as the next holiday season comes around, Layla doesn’t think about her deal with James. However, that changes a few days before Christmas once she discovers that Tanner is cheating on her. Consequently, as she and her best friend, Roxy, reminisce about “Airport James,” the dreamy guy Layla turned down for Tanner, they come to the conclusion that the woman must attend The Pentatonix concert. Yet, as luck would have it, this was the first year when Layla skipped on getting tickets for the band in advance.
Teddy and Layla: A Shared Adventure Through New York
Although Layla decides she wants to attend The Pentatonix concert and start a potential love story with James, the stars don’t seem to be in her favor. Given the band’s popularity, the concert is entirely sold out. As such, no matter how hard Layla looks online, she can’t find a ticket for a reasonable price. However, Roxy comes to her rescue with a game plan and suggests that her friend use Impromptu’s concierge services. As a result, Layla ends up at the Impromptu office, where her case is assigned to Teddy.
Teddy is a well-liked guy around the office. Yet, he isn’t the best of the employees. Therefore, Layla’s case becomes his last opportunity to prove himself before he would be fired from his job. With his career on the line, Teddy is ready to pull out all stops to ensure he can help Layla get those tickets. On the other hand, Layla’s love life rides on the tickets, which compels her to accompany Teddy on his errands. As such, the pair ends up running around New York together in an attempt to secure the tickets one way or another.
During this time, Layla and Teddy get to know each other in insightful ways. For instance, Teddy recognizes the woman’s kindness when she helps out the man at the Chanel store, even at the cost of her own chances to get the concert tickets. Similarly, Layla gets to see a different side of Teddy after she accompanies him to his mother’s house. Therefore, when the duo agree to participate in a lip-sync battle under the tutelage of Teddy’s brother, Jordy, they end up getting even closer to one another during rehearsals.
Finally, hours before the concert, Teddy and Layla participate in the competition and perform a dance number together. Inevitably, their rendition of ‘Santa Baby’ ends in a heated encounter where Layla kisses Teddy. In the chaos of the competition’s aftermath—in which they only score second place—the duo fails to talk about the kiss properly. Additionally, Layla finds out in a whirlwind that The Pentatonix—who have been keeping up with her story through their assistant and Teddy’s friend, Becca, have decided to send her a last-minute ticket. Thus, as Roxy whisks Layla away to dress her up for the concert, Teddy is left high and dry, unsure about where he stands with the woman he has unwittingly fallen in love with.
Layla Has Her Epiphany And Makes Her Decision
Throughout the film, Layla remains steadfast in her belief that fate is pushing her toward James. She interprets the discovery of Tanner’s affair, James’ photograph on the band’s website, and every other coincidence as signs from the universe. However, things begin to change once she gets to know Teddy. As it turns out, she and Teddy share an unbelievable past together, too. On the day that she met James, Layla first bumped into another man at the lounge’s buffet.
That man—Teddy— dropped some of his belongings, a set of cups, one of which accidentally ended up in Layla’s bag. Therefore, the two have been using the identical cups for a year now. With the discovery, it becomes easy for Layla to believe all the signs reminding her of her time at the airport lounge could have also been pointing toward Teddy. More than that, she realizes that the chemistry she has with Teddy is something special that she needs to fight for. For the same reason, as she prepares for the concert, she decides to pursue Teddy rather than James.
Through Teddy’s messages to Becca, The Pentatonix members have also become invested in Layla’s story. Naturally, they want to see it unfold. Consequently, while they give a ticket to Layla, they also bring Teddy to the concert under the excuse of requiring a last-minute Santa. As such, when Layla arrives at the concert—after a brutal fight against traffic—Teddy is already on the stage, in the middle of a speech—his grand romantic gesture to win the woman over.
Before entering the concert hall, Layla runs into James—and informs him that she has fallen in love with someone else. Luckily, James also finds someone else for himself and is actually at a concert with his girlfriend. In the end, as Layla finds Teddy, who waits for her on the stage—the couple finally confesses their feelings for one another. Ultimately, Layla ends up with Teddy—truly finding love in the most unexpected place.
Read More: Netflix’s Meet Me Next Christmas: Exploring All Filming Locations
