''Home for Christmas'' ( no, Hjem til jul) is a

Norwegian Norwegian, Norwayan, or Norsk may refer to: *Something of, from, or related to Norway, a country in northwestern Europe *Norwegians, both a nation and an ethnic group native to Norway *Demographics of Norway *The Norwegian language, including the ...

television series that premiered on

Netflix Netflix, Inc. is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service and production company based in Los Gatos, California. Founded in 1997 by Reed Hastings and Marc Randolph in Scotts Valley, California, it offers a fil ...

in December 2019. It stars

Ida Elise Broch Ida Elise Broch (born 25 June 1987) is a Norwegian actress. She is the half-sister of Nicolai Cleve Broch and Christian Cleve Broch. Broch played Catherine in the film ''The Man Who Loved Yngve'' and had a starring role in the film ''Switch''. Sh ...

as Johanne, who scrambles to get a boyfriend to bring home for

Christmas Eve Christmas Eve is the evening or entire day before Christmas Day, the festival commemorating the birth of Jesus. Christmas Day is observed around the world, and Christmas Eve is widely observed as a full or partial holiday in anticipation ...

. The romantic

drama comedy Comedy drama, also known by the portmanteau ''dramedy'', is a genre of dramatic works that combines elements of comedy and Drama (film and television), drama. The modern, scripted-television examples tend to have more humorous bits than simple co ...

consists of six 30-minute episodes in each season and was Netflix's first Norwegian original series. The series received mostly positive reviews. In 2022, the series was remade in Italy under the title ''

I Hate Christmas ''I Hate Christmas'' ( it, Odio il Natale) is an Italian romantic comedy television series based on the Norwegian series '' Home for Christmas''. It was released on Netflix on 7 December 2022. Plot Gianna is a nurse from Chioggia who is happily s ...

''.

Synopsis

Johanne (Broch) is a nurse in her 30s, working at a hospital in Norway. During

Advent Advent is a Christian season of preparation for the Nativity of Christ at Christmas. It is the beginning of the liturgical year in Western Christianity. The name was adopted from Latin "coming; arrival", translating Greek ''parousia''. In ...

dinner, she feels pressured by her family to be in a relationship. She lies and tells them that she has a boyfriend, and that he will accompany her to Christmas dinner. Felix Sandman

Johanne then tries to find a boyfriend through

speed dating Speed dating is a formalized matchmaking process which has the purpose of encouraging eligible singles to meet large numbers of new potential partners in a very short period of time. Organization Usually advance registration is required for ...

internet dating Online dating, also known as Internet dating, Virtual dating, or Mobile app dating, is a relatively recent method used by people with a goal of searching for and interacting with potential romantic or sexual partners, via the internet. An onlin ...

, and other means. She goes on dates with several men, including 18 year old Jonas (

Felix Sandman Karl Felix Wilhelm Sandman (born 25 October 1998) is a Swedish singer and actor. He is best known as a member of the boy band FO&O with two studio albums '' Off the Grid'' (2014) and ''FO&O'' (2017). He plays Sebastian Fagerman in the first Swed ...

), and the much older Bengt Erik (

Bjørn Skagestad Bjørn Skagestad (born 5 September 1950) is a Norwegian actor. Selected filmography * 1974: ''Ungen'' * 1980: ''Life and Death'' * 1981: ''Martin'' * 1981: ''The Witch Hunt ''The Witch Hunt'' ( no, Forfølgelsen) is a 1981 Norwegian drama film ...

). She also has a brief sexual encounter with Eira, one of her female coworkers. None of this results in Johanne finding a boyfriend. In the last episode of season one, coworker Dr. Henrik tells her that he loves her. They are interrupted by a medical emergency before she can respond. She then goes to her parents' house for Christmas dinner. During dinner, the doorbell rings. The first season ends with a shot of Johanne's face as she opens the door, possibly for one of her suitors.

Production

The series takes place in

Oslo Oslo ( , , or ; sma, Oslove) is the capital and most populous city of Norway. It constitutes both a county and a municipality. The municipality of Oslo had a population of in 2022, while the city's greater urban area had a population of ...

, with winter scenes taking place in the

copper mining Copper extraction refers to the methods used to obtain copper from its ores. The conversion of copper consists of a series of physical and electrochemical processes. Methods have evolved and vary with country depending on the ore source, loca ...

town

Røros Røros ( sma, Plaassja, ) is a municipality in Trøndelag county, Norway. The administrative centre of the municipality is the town of Røros. Some of the villages in Røros include Brekken, Glåmos, Feragen, Galåa, and Hitterdalen. The minin ...

. Unexpected warmth resulted in snow being transported from

Røros Airport Røros Airport ( no, Røros lufthavn; ) is a regional airport located from the town of Røros in Trøndelag county, Norway. The asphalt runway has the physical dimensions and is aligned 14/32. Scheduled services are provided to Oslo by Widerøe ...

to create the winter scenes. It was produced by the Oslo Company, and financed and distributed by Netflix as an

original series Original programming (also called originals or original programs, and subcategorized as "original series", "original movies", "original documentaries" and "original specials") is a term used for in-house television, film or web series productions ...

. The idea for the show was created by two advertisement students, Amir Shaheen and Kristian Andersen, who derived the concept from the popular Nordic TV Christmas calendars, televised

advent calendar An Advent calendar is used to count the days of Advent in anticipation of Christmas. Since the date of the First Sunday of Advent varies, falling between November 27 and December 3 inclusive, many reusable Advent calendars made of paper or wood b ...

s with an episode broadcast each day of December until

. They decided not to draw inspiration from Christmas films but rather other Norwegian series such as the teenage series Skam. They pitched the idea to the Oslo Company. The director of the series was .

Cast and characters

as Johanne, 30 year old nurse and protagonist *

Gabrielle Leithaug Gabrielle Leithaug (born 10 January 1985 in Bergen, Norway) better known by her mononym artist name Gabrielle, is a Norwegian Electropop singer signed to Universal Music. Early life Gabrielle was born in Bergen and resided in Hordvik, a neighbou ...

as Jørgunn, Johanne's roommate and best friend *

Dennis Storhøi Jahn Dennis Storhøi (born July 15, 1960 in Fredrikstad, Norway) is a Norwegian actor. Biography He is an acclaimed theatre actor in Norway, having won several awards. However, he is known for his role as ''Herger the Joyous'' in John McTiernan' ...

as Tor, Johanne's father *

Anette Hoff Anette Hoff (born 16 May 1961) is a Norwegian actress. She has played hotel manager Juni Anker-Hansen in ''Hotel Cæsar'' since 1998. In autumn 2005, spring 2010 and autumn 2011 she took breaks to play on stage. During the 2010 break, she left th ...

as Jorid, Johanne's mother *

Ghita Nørby Ghita Nørby (born 11 January 1935) is a Danish actress with 117 film credits to her name from 1956 to 2005, making her one of the most active Danish actresses ever. Early life Nørby was born in Copenhagen, Denmark, the daughter of opera singer ...

as Mrs. Nergaard,

COPD Chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD) is a type of progressive lung disease characterized by long-term respiratory symptoms and airflow limitation. The main symptoms include shortness of breath and a cough, which may or may not produce mu ...

patient at the hospital *

Hege Schøyen Hege Schøyen (born 22 May 1957, in Oslo) is a Norwegian singer, actor and comedian. She has played at the Oslo revue theatre Chat Noir and at Nationaltheatret. She was television presenter for the youth program series ''Midt i smørøyet'' at th ...

as Bente, manages the nurses at the hospital *

as Bengt Erik, politician and businessman *

as Jonas, 19 year old Johanne meets online *

Line Verndal Line Cecilie Verndal (born 23 March 1972) a Norwegian actress, born in Oslo. She has worked in various Norwegian theatres and has the main role of Marit in the Norwegian drama-series ''Himmelblå ''Himmelblå'' (in English: ''Blue sky'') was ...

as Eira, works at the hospital * as Henrik, a doctor *

Iselin Shumba Iselin may refer to: People with the family name * Adrian G Iselin (1818–1905), American banker, businessman & millionaire * Charles Oliver Iselin (1854–1932), American banker and yachtsman * Columbus O'Donnell Iselin (1904–1971), American oc ...

as Jeanette, good friend to Johanne, has children with Trym

Episodes

Season 1 (2019)

Season 2 (2020)

Reception

The series received mostly positive reviews. ''

Verdens Gang ''Verdens Gang'' ("The course of the world"), generally known under the abbreviation ''VG'', is a Norwegian tabloid newspaper. In 2016, circulation numbers stood at 93,883, having declined from a peak circulation of 390,510 in 2002. ''VG'' is n ...

'' gave it three out of six stars, likening it to a hybrid of ''Bridget Jones'' and ''

Love Actually ''Love Actually'' is a 2003 Christmas romantic comedy film written and directed by Richard Curtis. It features an ensemble cast, composed predominantly of British actors, many of whom had worked with Curtis in previous film and television proje ...

'' with a pointless narrative, but

NRK NRK, an abbreviation of the Norwegian ''Norsk Rikskringkasting Aksjeselskap, AS'', generally expressed in English as the Norwegian Broadcasting Corporation, is the Norwegian government-owned radio and television public broadcasting company, and ...

called it a must-see for fans of Christmas romances and praised it for a well made atmosphere of Christmas ''

hygge ''Hygge'' (, ; ; ) is a word in Danish language, Danish and Norwegian language, Norwegian that describes a mood of coziness and "comfortable conviviality" with feelings of wellness and contentment. As a cultural category with its sets of associa ...

'' (coziness). Leah Thomas of ''

Cosmopolitan Cosmopolitan may refer to: Food and drink * Cosmopolitan (cocktail), also known as a "Cosmo" History * Rootless cosmopolitan, a Soviet derogatory epithet during Joseph Stalin's anti-Semitic campaign of 1949–1953 Hotels and resorts * Cosmopoli ...

'' said "This soap opera drama series will have your jaw dropping with all the twists turns imaginable. Besides the fact that it's perfectly messy, I love this show because I have no idea who I want Johanne to end up with. Actually, I don't know if I even want her to end up with anyone, and I think that’s the entire point."

References

External links

* *{{rotten-tomatoes, tv/home_for_christmas Television shows set in Norway Norwegian drama television series Norwegian comedy television series Serial drama television series 2010s Norwegian television series 2019 Norwegian television series debuts Norwegian-language Netflix original programming Christmas television series