“I am so beautiful! It’s amazing!”

Justin’s rating: If your nickname is “Aud,” then you have to know it sounds like “Odd,” right? Maybe fish around for another nickname?

Justin’s review: One of the reasons why I don’t get out as often as my extroverted friends has nothing to do with crushing responsibilities. No, it’s a very really fear that I might smack into someone accidentally and swap bodies. And it would be my luck to have to navigate the life of a YouTube influencer or an art history major who’s in a ska band. So I’ll stay at home, safe and sound and in my own misshapen but familiar body, thank you.

Audrey (Jackie Seiden) and Julia (Ashley Wood) should’ve known better than to go to the mall during the Christmas season, meet a mysterious “Mrs. Nick,” grab a magical ornament together, and end up with an extreme personality exchange. Now Julia has to learn how to deal with the life of a married yet harried waitress who can’t say “no” to anyone and Audrey gets stuffed into the role of a high-powered record exec who can’t connect with her estranged daughter.

First things first: A Christmas Swap puts its worst foot forward in the first 15 minutes. It’s a lot of cringy acting and Lifetime relationship moments that give you no good reason to keep watching. But once the switcharoo happens, everyone loosens up and starts having a much better time with the material.

I was actually highly amused at how the two women deal with the shock of waking up in someone else’s body — and how they both have pretty much the same reactions. Oh, and how their husbands are nonchalant while watching them act all crazy. Women go nuts sometimes, you just have to roll with it in a relationship. That felt quite relatable. Usually body swap movies aren’t between adults with families, so that changes the dynamic quite noticeably.

As the leads literally walk a mile in someone else’s shoes and gain some better perspective while being adorable, it’s not hard to see where the movie is going. Mrs. Nick keeps popping up here and there with her meddling magical ways, giving the impression that this is more of a controlled therapeutic experiment than anything else.

Julia has a fun mean streak that comes off even better as Seiden picks up the role, almost overshadowing her costar. They coach each other through their lives, including how to navigate being in the same house with a kid and romantic partner that isn’t strictly theirs. I liked the thought put into this, even if the two get on board with the changes way too easily. Julia storming into Audrey’s life and making practical, decisive moves when absolutely nobody is used to her being this way made me wish the camera would stay on her 100% of the time.

The plot is still pretty flimsy, which is no doubt why the movie douses everything with an extra measure of peppy soundtrack, Christmas decorations, an insanely cute kid, and bright colors. Yet it’s the little acting moments that ended up appealing to me the most, like how Julia goes on a cookie binge in Audrey’s body or Audrey playing dress-up with someone else’s wardrobe and stealth Christmas decorating Julia’s house.

As I’ve noted before, body swap movies are like a permission slip for actors to loosen up and be silly. Then they learn a lesson or two, zip back into their own bodies, and be better off for the experience. But here, it feels like the core is the blossoming friendship between two strangers who may be what each other needs.

A Christmas Switch isn’t deep or surprising, but there are some genuine laughs, some good character moments, and a general patina of cheer that more than made up for the poor first impression.

Intermission!

• Hope you were OK with getting a discount Mariah Carey concert right off the bat!
• That’s a seriously cute Christmas stage for a diner
• That guy had to try so hard to sing that badly off-key
• That kid is incredibly cute
• “How’d you know my name?” “The bear told me.”
• MAGIC ORNAMENT
• I like the suave roll off the bed and the shower fort
• “First of all, zero minutes is not a thing.”
• Haha she keeps taking more and more cookies from the fridge
• “Popcorn night! Popcorn night! WOOHOO!”
• “…nobody said anything about a note.”
• I do feel bad for the guys getting pushed aside anytime they want kisses
• “What was that voice dad?”
• The contract song and dance
• Julia silently celebrating in the hallway
• Audrey is wearing the heck out of all that red
• “Merry Christmas, I’m trapped in someone’s body, who’s ready for presents?”
• The magic Christmas tree lighting up is goosebumps moment
• That little girl grew not one bit over the course of an entire year