Nordic Watchlist reviews Season 3 of Netflix’s Home For Christmas
Five. Whole. Years. That’s how long fans of the Norwegian Netflix romantic comedy, Home for Christmas have had to wait for an update. Annual re-watches have become festive staples. Ida Elise Broch’s Johanne is now as much a part of the season as Scrooge and Santa. But, as season three arrives, how much has changed? Is Christmas still going to be spent as the only single seat at the family dinner?
Johanne is now 35, and we find her still processing her break-up with Jonas. Aiming for a promotion at work whilst trying desperately to keep her family together (and sane!) for Christmas, life is increasingly stressful. Is there time for romance amongst all of this?
Home for Christmas – The Director
The series is directed and co-created by Per-Olav Sørensen, a highly acclaimed writer/director who has been collaborating with streaming giant Netflix since 2018.
He is known for several award-winning drama series hits like The Playlist, Quicksand, Nobel, The Heavy Water War / The Saboteurs, The Half Brother and A Storm for Christmas.
In 2024, he directed the drama series Midsummer Night, which went to number one, worldwide on Netflix.
Home for Christmas – The Cast
- Johanne – Ida Elise Broch (Munch, Lilyhammer)
- Jorid – Anette Hoff (Pørni)
- Tor – Dennis Storhøi (Kids In Crime, A Storm for Christmas)
- Bente – Hege Schøyen (Shetland)
- Maria – Helga Guren (An Affair)
- Jonas – Felix Sandman (Quicksand)
- Bo – Gard Løkke (Good Boy)
- Morten – Christian Ruud Kallum (Royalteen)
- Willy – Bjørn Sundquist (Wild Men)
Home for Christmas – Our Review
Dating in your thirties is hard. Just ask Amanda in Diary of a Ditched Girl. There’s such a weight of expectation placed upon you – especially at Christmas time. There has to be someone to bring to dinner, to share gifts with, to kiss at parties. And, as our beloved Johanne returns to our screens, it certainly hasn’t got any easier.
At the heart of this series – hear us out – is a broken kitchen. Johanne has promised her family that she will host their festive get-together this year, only to get back to her flat to realise the floor is sodden. Her kitchen has sprung a leak. More than that, it’s entirely rotten and needs to be ripped out and built from scratch. The kitchen – in its various states of decay, disrepair and disorder – becomes something of a metaphor for Johanne’s desire to create a perfect, stress-free Christmas full of family, joy, love and stability. (Read: for the most part, that ain’t happening.)
Ida Elise Broch’s performance continues to be utterly charming and credible – even when she’s dressed as a giant rat. She is aiming for a promotion in work; holding her family together by the thinnest of threads; attempting to support her sister through burnout; trying to get her mother and father in the same room for the holidays. This is very much life in your thirties.
Especially as a singleton – and everyone assumes you have no responsibilities or worries of your own. Broch shows us a woman who longs to be loved but is scared to be vulnerable; someone who is quirky and funny on the outside but more introverted than they allow others to see.
The supporting cast is also excellent. Helga Guren, as Maria, conveys the pressures of being a “perfect parent” during the school Christmas play, whilst Gard Løkke’s Bo is mysterious and eccentric. The scenes with Bjørn Sundquist’s Willy, a man confronting his own mortality at the worst time of year, will break your heart. And, of course, we get to experience Johanne’s chaotic dating life as she attempts to shed the ghosts of boyfriends past. No spoilers, here, but there’s plenty to laugh about and even more to get you misty-eyed. (There’s even a Texas Chainsaw Massacre homage that is both unexpected and utterly hilarious.)
As you might expect, the eight-part series is peppered with delightful Nordic knitwear and – yes – another tartan coat makes an appearance. The overhead shots of the main shopping street, especially at night time when everything is lit by fairy lights, feel like a postcard. The multi-coloured houses and kicksleds belong in a snowglobe.
The soundtrack is equally engaging. We have everything from Joni Mitchell’s Both Sides Now to Joyride by Astrid, Might Never Meet Again by RABO to Jupiter by Dagny. It feels warm, festive, melancholic and reflective – a perfect summation of the mixed journey of emotions the series itself presents.
If you’ve enjoyed the cosy glow of the previous two seasons of Home for Christmas, you simply cannot miss season three. It will make you want to run away to a tiny Norwegian town and chaotically search for love amongst the snow and sweaters. Get the blanket on and binge-watch this little festive gem.
Home for Christmas Season 3 is out now on Netflix
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