The Princess Switch (2018)

Title: The Princess Switch
Year of Release: 2018
Available On: Netflix on 10/19
Rating: 5 out of 5 Jingle Bells

Vanessa Hudgens is the new queen of Netflix Christmas? Definitely seems so. In this case, she plays Stacy, who is still smarting from a recent break-up with her ex, Paul. They were together for three years. Paul has moved the fuck on. He’s a doo-doo head. Meanwhile, she’s got a super successful baking shop in Chicago and she’s been invited to compete in a big time baking competition in Belgravia. Side note: I like that Belgravia is an ongoing fictional place in Netflix movies. It soothes me. I like the idea of all these ridiculous stories intertwining.

You know what else I like: Christmas magic! And there’s a sprinkling of it in this movie.

Life is what happens when you’re busy making other plans.

That is an over-arching message in this movie, and one that lil Stacy needs to hear from time to time. Or daily. Nick Sagar, Kevin, keeps her more sane if not totally together. But after she gets doused in someone else’s baking materials, she bumps into someone… familiar. Herself. Well, technically not her, but The Prince & The Pauper version of her played by the same actress with another hairstyle and an accent. Hudgens does a good job with this, better than most. Her accent ain’t great, but it doesn’t take you out of the story either. And heaven knows I’m not an expert in accents either.

There’s one of those montages where they learn to switch places and a matronly assistant of sorts helps them navigate their mutual processes in opposite directions. Sam Palladio is super-handsome. Princess-y wants to experience a common life before she gets married. What’s the baker’s motivation? She wants Kevin’s daughter, her god-daughter, to attend a summer ballet school that she’s set her sights on. And why not get a taste of the good life? I’d probably do the same, if offered.

Of course, these plot lines are never even remotely realistic. There’s no way someone could learn enough about a life in an afternoon to survive without major gaffs. Let alone to such different lives. We are getting the good set-up here though: it’s clear from the beginning that Stacy is going to fall in love with the Prince and the Lady Margaret is going to fall in love with Stacy’s BFF, Kevin. Stace and the Prince first connect over The Little Prince. Kevin and Lady Margaret, meanwhile, are having the time of their lives now that they’ve thrown Stacy’s schedule out the window.

LOLOLOL — Stacy’s accent and her choice of words are cracking me the fuck up. “How smashing. How… doubly smashing.” I’m getting a fucking hoot out of this.

For the record, I am team BOTH of these cute dudes.