Released in 2020, Operation Christmas Drop is based on a U.S. Air Force tradition. Every year, Pacific-based pilots drop thousands of pounds of supplies onto remote and isolated islands. It’s a heartwarming tradition, and in theory it makes for a good story.

In practice, the story was not that great. On the one hand, it was much more high-stakes than your average Netflix Christmas movie. On the other, it was a little bit boring despite those high stakes. I think I was almost more concerned about the baking show in The Princess Switch, or Natalie and Josh’s relationship in Love Hard. But before I judge too harshly — the film was tackling things like personal identity and ethical behaviour within the system of the U.S. government. These aren’t easy things to confront in an hour and thirty-six minutes. I didn’t love Operation Christmas Drop, but I’m willing to cut it a bit of slack. 

The story is centered around Erica (Kat Graham), a legislative aide visiting a USAF base on the island of Guam. Erica’s boss, Congresswoman Bradford (Virginia Madsen), is in charge of finding three bases to shut down. She decides that the presumably expensive practice of dropping supplies to islanders seems like a perfectly good reason to cut this base, so she gives Erica the job of gathering evidence for the closing of the base. 

In the beginning, Erica thinks that this assignment will be easy. She finds Andrew, (Alexander Ludwig), the captain that is showing her around, incredibly annoying, and she keeps finding evidence of unnecessary expenditures — or so she thinks. As it turns out, the base relies on donations and volunteer hours to make Operation Christmas Drop happen. Sure, they’re using military equipment to do it, but no taxpayer dollars are wasted. 

Will these excuses be enough to convince Congresswoman Bradford that the base should stay open? What about the drop — will it even happen? Will Erica and Andrew fall in love?

I can’t tell you. That would be spoiling. You’ll have to watch the movie to find the answers to those questions. I will say that although the plot is predictable, it left me feeling warm and fuzzy by the end, and I enjoyed the tropical Christmas aesthetic. It’s always fun to think about Christmas snorkeling. Also, an Air Force boy and a D.C. girl? This is a formula that I haven’t seen before, which is always refreshing. 

I do have one major problem with this movie. I appreciate a good “cold-hearted city girl learns to love again” story as much as the next person, but it felt like the islanders that were represented onscreen were mostly used as story devices. Sure, they were people, but they were also people that existed mostly to remind Erica of the true spirit of Christmas. That seems a little bit “yikesy” to me.

At the end of the day, Operation Christmas Drop was fine. I just can’t quite wholeheartedly recommend it. If you have time and you want to see how you feel about it, though, then go for it, and have fun daydreaming about Christmas snorkeling.