Upon sitting down to watch the third installment of “The Princess Switch” movies, which came to Netflix on Nov. 18,  I expected not much more than another typical rom-com-like Christmas movie. However, I was definitely mistaken. This movie takes a classic Christmas tale and adds the element of surprise, action and drama which makes this movie a must watch. 

In the movie, Stacy and Margaret, now best friends, plan to host a Christmas festival with a noteworthy centerpiece, which previously belonged to the Vatican. However, all goes south when the Star of Peace arrives and a group of thieves steal it, turning the movie into a Christmas heist. When the police find that there is no trace of evidence, the two turn to an unexpected person for help: Fiona Pembroke, the third look-alike…with a criminal background, of course. Fiona, who had been forced to do a lot of community service in return for her many crimes, agrees to help discover who stole the star in return for a good word with the disciplinary board. As the story unfolds, the predictable Christmas movie turns into an action film as booby traps are set off, romance sparks and new friendships emerge. 

If you haven’t seen the first two movies, they star Vanessa Hudgens as three different characters. In the first movie, Duchess of Montenaro Margaret Delacourt encounters Stacy DeNovo, a baker from Chicago. The two are identical. Longing for one last shot at normal life before her royal wedding and life in the public eye, Margaret suggests that they switch places. Following a pretty predictable plot, the two love their new lives and eventually fall in love with each others’ suitors. The second movie extends the plot and introduces a third character who, of course, is identical to the other two. Fiona Pembroke, Margaret’s cousin, steals Margaret’s identity, and plots to steal from the royal treasury. 

While I don’t exactly recommend the first two movies to everyone, the third one left me pleasantly surprised and actually showed much improvement from the first two. 

Hudgens’ did a phenomenal job differentiating all three characters and has shown much improvement from the first two installments. Although holiday movies in general always satisfy me, I have found that after seeing so many, I tend to get bored with the same repetitive plot. Additionally, I have not been impressed in the past with Netflix’s sequel abilities as I always feel that they ruin the initial storyline, but this sequel was one of Netflix’s best and went above and beyond my expectations.  

 Overall, I would rate this movie a 4.5 out of 5 stars and would recommend this to everyone. The holidays  are a time to be joyful and appreciative, but that doesn’t mean you can’t have some fun whilst getting in the spirit. This Christmas heist definitely takes an original angle on the typical holiday movie and increased my excitement for the upcoming holidays due to the previous lackluster season surrounding COVID-19.