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A red Santa suit and curled white false beard hang beside skis in a warm lodge. Snow boots and a blue helmet sit by a bench beneath a window overlooking snowy slopes and a glowing ski lift.

Essential Christmas · 2025

My Secret Santa

Name: My Secret Santa
Released: 2025
Duration: 92 min
Cast: Alexandra Breckenridge, Ryan Eggold, Tia Mowry

54/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 54 ↓

UK certificate 1292 min
Comedy · Romance

Netflix's big Christmas hit of 2025 is Mrs Doubtfire on skis: a single mum puts on a beard, a belly and a…

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Explore this film 9 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves inspect a miniature snowy ski lodge at a worktable, one holding a magnifying glass. A red Santa coat, false beard, boots and helmet sit beside a window onto lit ski slopes. — A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas drives it, firmly.25/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for about half.10/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details4 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.6/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: partly.10/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

72/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Warm in tone. Moderate threat. A happy ending.

How we score →

What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →

Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked 22 Oct 2026

Netflix

Included with a subscription

Open My Secret Santa on Netflix (opens in a new tab)

Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab).

The story

About My Secret Santa

A single mum who has lost her job needs money for her daughter's place at a snowboarding academy, and the luxury ski resort that could pay for it is hiring a seasonal Santa. So she glues on a beard, finds a gravelly voice and gets the job as a man, then starts falling for the resort owner's son who hired her. Alexandra Breckenridge and Ryan Eggold lead Netflix's 2025 Christmas romcom, shot at a real Canadian ski resort.

The CineClaus verdict

Netflix's big Christmas hit of 2025 is Mrs Doubtfire on skis: a single mum puts on a beard, a belly and a gravelly voice to land the Santa job at a luxury ski resort, then falls for the man who hired her. Nobody will believe a frame of it, and the script never really tries to make you.

What carries it is Alexandra Breckenridge, who commits to both halves of the part with proper comic timing, and a snowbound resort that looks like the inside of a Christmas card. Undemanding, warm and very easy to have on.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

Our take: rated 12 by the BBFC for language. Nothing frightening happens, just a tumble on the slopes and some romance, but the swearing makes it one for 12 and up.

Content advice & accessibility

Our age guidance: Editorial, separate from the official 12 certificate, and never looser than it.

The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order

Woman with long wavy auburn hair and a black leather jacket, looking to one side at a press event.

Alexandra Breckenridgeas Taylor Jacobson

Ryan Eggold standing with tousled hair and a beard, in a light grey blazer over a blue shirt, in front of a white event wall.

Ryan Eggoldas Matthew Layne

Tia Mowry with long dark hair and fringe, smiling in a black lace top with white daisy embroidery against a blue backdrop.

Tia Mowryas Natasha Burton

Behind the camera

Directed by

Mike Rohl

Writing & production credits

Writer: Ron Oliver

Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Alexandra Breckenridge · Red Carpet Report on Mingle Media TV · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Ryan Eggold · Kristin Dos Santos · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Tia Mowry · Sidewalks Entertainment · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind My Secret Santa. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapSun Peaks Resort

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

A ski run lined with snow-covered fir trees, with a chairlift line and empty chairs overhead under a pale sky.

Location photograph
Janet Hopkins (Wikimedia Commons, opens in a new tab) · CC BY 3.0 (opens in a new tab)

Filming location

Sun Peaks Resort

Canada

The British Columbia ski resort north-east of Kamloops is where most of the film was shot, snow and slopes included.

Open in OpenStreetMap ↗ (opens in a new tab)Scene source ↗ (hollywoodnorthbuzz.com, opens in a new tab)

Choose your next scene

Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
Explore the next place.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

Sun Peaks Resort · Janet Hopkins · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 3.0 (opens in a new tab) · hollywoodnorthbuzz.com (opens in a new tab)

Kamloops · hollywoodnorthbuzz.com (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more My Secret Santa

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

Shot in three and a bit weeks of February snow

British Columbia filming ran from 3 to 27 February 2025, mostly at Sun Peaks Resort, a working ski village. The winter backdrop was there on location, with scenes also shot in downtown Kamloops.

Read the story

On your next watchThe slopes and village behind the actors, which are a real place rather than a set.

Source: Hollywood North Buzz ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

A real hotel plays the resort lodge

Sun Peaks says its Grand Hotel is one of the film's most recognisable locations. The resort stresses the village is a real four-season mountain community, not a purpose-built set, and publishes a map of the filming spots.

Read the story

Source: Sun Peaks Resort ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

Hours in the make-up chair for the beard

Alexandra Breckenridge sometimes spent a few hours in prosthetic make-up to become the resort's Santa, wearing the prosthetics and full costume herself rather than relying on effects.

Read the story

On your next watchHow the beard and belly hold up in close-ups.

Source: What's on Netflix review ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

The Christmas in it: Snow on screen. Set in a snowy ski resort at Christmas, filmed on location in British Columbia in February.
Releases and certificates: 3 Dec 2025: On streaming, rated 12. Netflix original, released worldwide on the same day.

Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.