Kiernan Shipka’s Thanksgiving-themed romantic comedy is a streaming hit on Max

Christmas movies have been with us for a while now, but we now live in an era of Christmas movie streaming. This year, Hulu managed to secure Ben Stiller for their Christmas production “The Nutcrackers,” while Max Kiernan Shipka, who played Sabrina Spellman in two seasons of the Netflix series “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina,” for the Thanksgiving romantic comedy “Sweethearts.” recruited.

Since “Sabrina” was canceled due to the global pandemic, Shipka has appeared in the “Back to the Future”-esque slasher comedy “Totally Killer” and Roku’s TV remake of “Swimming with Sharks.” In 2024, she had small roles in the record-breaking box office hit Twisters and Oz Perkins’ horror hit Longlegs. But alongside Nico Hiraga, she stars in “Sweethearts,” from co-writer and debut director Jordan Weiss.

In the film, Shipka plays Jamie, a college freshman who has been friends with Hiraga’s Ben since eighth grade. The two friends are still in a relationship with their high school boyfriends, but make a pact to break up with their partners over the Thanksgiving holiday. Of course, this wouldn’t be a romantic comedy without unresolved sexual tension between the two leads, of which there’s plenty in this latest holiday streaming offering. All of this seems to be a recipe for success, as “Sweethearts” is currently dominating the most-watched Max charts.

“Sweethearts” debuted on Max on November 28, 2024, and made quite an impression on audiences, according to FlixPatrol, a website that tracks viewership data on streaming platforms. While it had yet to reach number one in the United States, it immediately debuted at number three, where, at the time of writing, it has remained ever since.

Interestingly, the only country where Sweethearts has remained at number one since its debut is Portugal, where the film went to number one immediately upon its release and has remained there ever since. The film also debuted at number one in the Netherlands, but slipped to number two on November 30, where it remains at the time of writing. In fact, “Sweethearts” also managed to debut at number one in Denmark, France, Hungary, Norway, Poland and Sweden before losing the top spot in the following days. Nevertheless, it remains in the charts in all of these countries and more, ranking in 38 countries as of December 3, 2024.

This kind of global attention has seen “Sweethearts” manage to reach number five overall on the worldwide charts, according to the FlixPatrol Worldwide Top 10. Which isn’t number one either, but is pretty impressive provided that this is the table for all countries.

Whether “Sweethearts” can capture the top spot in the U.S. remains to be seen, but it currently faces stiff competition in the form of popular holiday outing “National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation” at number two and the box office hit and modern holiday classic. Eleven” in first place. With all due respect to “Sweethearts,” they are some great Christmas hits. So if the film manages to grab the top spot, it will be nothing short of a Christmas coup.

Unfortunately, the 53% rating on Rotten Tomatoes doesn’t bode well for the future of “Sweethearts,” even though the festive romantic comedy “The Holiday” remains one of the most rewatchable Christmas films, and it’s also underperforming with critics 50 is RT. While there’s no audience score for “Sweethearts” yet, the film’s streaming success suggests that viewers are probably more taken with the romantic comedy than critics. Additionally, three of the top four critics at RT who reviewed the film particularly liked it. Richard Roeper of the Chicago Sun Times praised Kiernan Shipka and Nico Hiraga for their “winning performances” in a “raunch-com.” true heart.”

Regardless of whether Sweethearts takes the top spot on Max or not, it’s nice for Shipka, who previously hinted that the door is open for her to play Sabrina again, back in a leading role.