The Christmas spirit is all around us. With the festival just a couple of weeks away, people are gearing up with their preparations. It is not necessary that everyone indulge in the joyous spirit, for they might have a different share of problems that weigh on their mind. As the festival draws closer, people have varied feelings toward it. For some, it is a chance to spend time with their loved ones, whereas for others, it is simply a tiring task because they have to encounter nosy relatives. “I Hate Christmas” falls somewhere between the two aforementioned situations. The Italian series on Netflix makes a bold statement with the title itself and ventures to explain why the protagonist makes such a claim.
Spoilers Ahead
Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Series?
Gianna is a 30-something nurse living in a small town in Italy. She makes the claim that she hates Christmas because she is still single, whereas her siblings are married. Her parents, especially her mother, have been very, very pointed about Gianna’s singledom. Even at work, her boss makes a blunt remark against her for being single. She is fed up with everyone around her just taunting her because she does not have a boyfriend or a fiancé. Out of frustration, one day at the family dinner, she claims that she has a boyfriend and that she will bring him home for Christmas. She and her friends meet almost every day. They make a plan to help Gianna get a boyfriend to take home for Christmas.
She has only 24 days before Christmas, and it is difficult finding a man for herself. She is very sensitive to the patients she treats, despite the head nurse always scolding and taunting her. Gianna makes friends with an 80-year-old lady who is admitted to the hospital for lung problems. The lady is funny and quick-witted and often advises Gianna on matters of the heart. She meets a string of men of varied temperaments and ages. She finds herself with a man who has lost control of his legs. His name is Carlo, and he is quite rich as well. He lives a life of luxury. He makes Gianna challenge her fear of flying by taking her on a seaplane ride, but Gianna is irked by this gesture and leaves immediately. Despite his physical disability, Gianna found herself attracted to Carlo, but his forcing her to do something she was clearly scared of turned her against him. Gianna then meets a seafood vendor named Mario. She goes on a date with him, but he is simply indulgent with himself and cares only for his mother. During a tin shooting game, he ends up in a scuffle with the stall owner. He kept going on and on about how Gianna was insensitive to his mother’s emotions. Gianna immediately dumped him and escaped the embarrassing situation. After a string of failed attempts, Gianna’s friend and flatmate Didi makes a profile for Gianna on some dating apps. Gianna matches with a young boy named Davide. The two spend an intimate night together on their first date, and it is revealed that Davide is only 19. Gianna is happy with Davide and gets emotionally invested in him. She is anxious to receive any communication from him and also visits him a couple of times. When Davide ghosts her, Gianna goes through a heartbreak. On his birthday, she bakes him a cake and finds him in the arms of another woman. Gianna spends the night crying, with her friends around to console her.
Gianna, Didi, Nina, and Gianna’s sister Margherita often meet up at Nina’s bar. Nina finds origami cranes on her bicycle every day. Since she has a crush on her co-worker, she thinks that it is he who leaves those origami cranes. After a drunken night, her co-worker and Margherita end up sleeping with each other. Nina is heartbroken over this but moves on eventually. Gianna’s sister Margherita has her own set of plans. She has a very pessimistic approach and is very scared of everything. She is very careful but also overworked. She is always complaining about the things she has had to do after her marriage. She does not find her husband very helpful and is always worried about things going wrong. She barely gets to take a break from anything. After Gianna’s heartbreak from Davide, when she is out drinking, she finds her father in the arms of another woman. She is sad to find this out and does not speak to her father for a few days. She is shocked to find the image of her father different from what she had in mind.
At the hospital, Gianna meets an ex-congressman named Dante Crisanti. He is older than Gianna but a gentleman through and through. She thinks that she might have a shot with him when he hands her his visiting card and invites her to his boat. When she does visit the boat, it isn’t a fancy, luxurious yacht but just a simple raft large enough for two or perhaps three people. While on the boat, Gianna is met by her parents, and it is revealed that her mother knew the ex-congressmen from their college days. So there goes another attempt by Gianna to get to know a man. There is also a maintenance worker who works where Gianna does. He never pays attention to her or replies to her greetings. During the Christmas party at work, she goes and confronts him about the same. He informs her that he is deaf. She is relieved to hear that he has no grudges against her. After that, they became friends. He also reveals that he was the one who left the origami cranes for Nina. During the Christmas party, Carlos visits Gianna, and Mario also happens to be at the same place. Gianna is frustrated with the way both men behave around her and lashes out. She leaves the party soon after with another female colleague. The two share a kiss on the ferry back home. Gianna does not invite her home, and the two part ways. During all this, Doctor Umberto, Gianna’s colleague at work, makes several failed attempts to talk to her and ask her out. When he finally does ask her out, it is close to Christmas. He makes a heartfelt confession to her. She is surprised to hear that but does not reject him. In the finale episode, Gianna invites people close to her to the Christmas dinner. She also invites a man over, and she says to the camera that she won’t reveal that person’s identity yet.
Does Gianna Finally Find A Date To Bring Home For Christmas?
Gianna spends an adventurous 24 days before Christmas trying to find a man to take home for Christmas. She is 30, and people around her always taunt her for being single. They pressured her to get married and have kids. She is growing annoyed with them poking their noses into her business and belittling her for being single.
In the final episode, it is revealed that Gianna does invite a date for Christmas, but the person’s identity is kept a mystery. Gianna also reveals that she is going to meet that person as well, but she says she won’t reveal who the person is. This leaves a good scope for a sequel as well. Gianna’s date could be Doctor Umberto, who made a genuine confession to her, or it could also be a female colleague of Gianna, whom she kissed on the boat. There has been no commentary about Gianna’s sexuality either, so there is a good chance that Gianna could be a bisexual person as well. If it is revealed in the later season that Gianna is indeed bisexual and that she is seeing a woman, that will open up a new avenue of adventure for her. She would have to navigate her mother’s taunts and those around her. Considering how conservative her mother has been, it might be a little difficult for her to accept that Gianna could be dating a woman as well. Gianna did not end up on bad terms with Carlo either. After the Christmas party, Didi is seen mingling with Mario, and she might be thinking of committing to a relationship with him. So Mario and Gianna ending up together are simply out of the question. Carlo and Gianna, on the other hand, could also be a possibility. During the party, Carlo expresses that he was wrong to persuade Gianna to do something that she did not wish to do. Despite his physical disability, Carlo is a caring man. He cares for the people around him and also treats Gianna lavishly. As for Dante and Davide, both of them are completely out of the picture, as things ended with them as soon as they began. Davide, who is just 19, has big plans for his life, and the age difference between them also shows the difference in their priorities in life. Dante, who is of her father’s age, has had a history of friendship with Gianna’s mother. This is a big turn-off for Gianna, as pursuing any relationship with Dante would only spoil her relationship with her parents.
Overall, “I Hate Christmas” is a good romantic comedy. With six episodes of approximately 30 minutes each, the show is a good entertainer. While the show’s primary focus was on Gianna finding a partner to bring home for Christmas, it also focused on the filial relationship between her and her parents and showed personal growth in Gianna after each encounter with a prospective date. Love and romance are important for a person, but one should not let oneself be embittered if those perspectives are absent for some time. Society as a whole puts a lot of pressure on individuals for not have a romantic partner. It leaves barely any space for individuals to breathe and spend time with themselves. It also puts a strain on their relationships with others due to the constant pressure. Love and romance are things that do not happen on short notice and are definitely not things that can be manufactured. Romance, like any other relationship, needs time and patience to blossom. Rushing headlong into any commitment would only harm the parties involved. “I Hate Christmas” is a good commentary on the same.
