Home for Christmas

Johanne is tired of the annual interrogation about her love life. With Christmas approaching, she gives herself a strict deadline: find a boyfriend in 24 days to take home to her family. What follows mixes awkward first dates, impulsive decisions and the behind-the-scenes chaos of modern dating, while friends and relatives push her toward quick fixes. The tone flips from light and funny to quietly honest as Johanne weighs short-term solutions against what she actually wants, and the series keeps the focus on characters and relationships rather than big surprises.

Created by Per-Olav Sørensen, Home for Christmas premiered in 2019. The Norwegian series stars Ida Elise Broch as Johanne, with Gabrielle Leithaug, Eric Curtis Johnson, Mads Sjøgård Pettersen and Hege Schøyen in key roles. Production values favor intimate settings and naturalistic performances, making the holiday premise feel grounded rather than glossy.

The show hasn’t been widely decorated with major international awards, but it did raise the profile of its cast within Scandinavian television circles. Reviews and audience chatter often singled out the central performance for attention, helping the actors gain wider recognition beyond Norway.

Home for Christmas found an audience among viewers who like romantic comedy that leans realistic instead of idealized. It became a frequent recommendation for holiday streaming, in part because it tackles the pressure to be coupled during family gatherings. The series also sparked conversation about how dating apps, social expectations and personal priorities collide in a small timeframe, and viewers appreciated its mix of humor and honest emotional beats.

Audience ratings reflect a warm reception, with a vote average around 7.4 out of 10 from the provided sample. Critics tended to note the effective balance between comedy and drama, and the writing’s attention to awkward, everyday moments. At its core the show looks at what people want from relationships and how far they’ll go to meet outside expectations, while keeping the characters human and relatable rather than idealized.