Let's Call the Whole Thing Off (2025)

-Written by Bryan Miller. 

This is a movie about addiction, though perhaps not the kind one expects—even from a holiday film. While it is packaged for the holidays, the film's true subject is Love-Addiction. The main character, Lydia (Elizabeth Guest), is a serial dater who begins to deal with her addiction, runs away from it, and unexpectedly falls in love. However, when that new relationship becomes serious, Lydia quickly reverts to her old habits. Ultimately, Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off is a story about dependency, love, and family (plus, the game Clue, Harrison Ford, and Calista Flockhart, but those are stories for another time).

So, what worked?

I absolutely adored the cast, particularly the leads. Guest, who not only stars as Lydia but also wrote, directed, and produced Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off, was a constant joy. Her witty dialogue and compelling presence meant I loved every second she was on screen. The same ease and gusto were brought by Andrew Leeds, who plays the love interest, Tim. He was simple, sensible, and I genuinely felt for his struggles in falling for a woman navigating her own issues with love. Their chemistry was fabulous; it felt warm, inviting, and simply real.

Lydia’s extended and complicated family, played by a large ensemble that includes Ed Begley Jr., Rachelle Carson Begley, Pamela Guest, and Nicholas Guest, is also incredibly delightful. While my appreciation for their characters wasn’t as consistent as it was for Lydia and Tim, I still enjoyed watching their discombobulated, yet surprisingly functional dynamic. I also really enjoyed Lydia’s best friend, Ryan, played by Craig Bullock. Like Leeds, Bullock and Guest have excellent chemistry, playing off one another with an effortless, quick-paced energy.

Even though I mentioned it before, I have to reiterate my praise for the film’s dialogue. The conversations feel genuinely funny and natural, often starting down one path, veering off into another, and wandering in unexpected directions before finally circling back. It reminded me of the kind of conversational rhythm found in many Quentin Tarantino films, only without the vulgarity or crude remarks. I truly cannot praise Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off’s dialogue enough.

Okay, well, what didn’t work?

I wasn’t very invested in most of the second act. After Lydia returns home and begins seeing her ex-boyfriend, James (played by Timm Sharp), I found the development hard to believe. Although his character does have an arc, I simply disliked him. And while I suppose I was meant to understand him by the end, I didn’t care enough about him to accept the final explanation. Lydia’s decisions regarding him were equally baffling. I understand that she’s written to make terrible choices when it comes to men, but some of her actions here felt downright ridiculous.

There’s also a convoluted subplot meant to set Lydia up with a new love interest, but it ultimately feels unnecessary, at least in the way it’s executed. To push the act forward, some characters make drastic and jarring shifts in behavior, and several subplots lead nowhere, adding more noise to an already chaotic situation. It just didn’t work and I wanted there to be far more intimate moments, rather than this spasmodic situation.

I also felt that, while it is repeated over and over, the concept of being a love-addict is never really focused on as deeply as it could have been. I am not saying the concept is ignored or pushed aside, especially not in the third act, but I think it could have been the driving force behind the entire story. It deserved to be the core focus, rather than being secondary to Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off’s identity as a romantic holiday movie, which, fundamentally, it is not.

All in all, I enjoyed Let’s Call the Whole Thing Off. While the premise is not wholly original, the movie is elevated by Guest’s sharp dialogue, the actors’ chemistry, and the sense that they simply had a great time making this movie. Though some parts of the film didn't quite land, I felt the third act rebounded well enough, and ended the story on the right (though predictable) foot. I can't wait to see what Ms. Guest has in store for us next.

Written & Directed by Elizabeth Guest. 

Starring Elizabeth Guest, Timm Sharp, Andrew Leeds, Robert Carradine, Jeff Urband, etc. 

8/10 = WORTH RENTING OR BUYING