The movie kicks off at a Christmas party—if you can believe it. It’s year one, and Alice walks into a room full of theater kids. It’s the wrap party for a fresh version of A Christmas Carol that Alice created. Alice is a senior in college and is happy to be finishing with a success. She’s surprised to see Max there. She goes up to the rooftop as it’s snowing, as one does, and Max shows up. He tells her how amazing the show was. He tries to explain where he’s been, but she says, “Don’t worry about it.” Just as they’re about to leave, she asks why he decided to talk to her after ignoring her for the last three years. He replies, “I really liked your show and thought you should know.” They’re about to kiss, but she’s like, “Nooo, this isn’t happening.” They awkwardly part ways.

The next day, she’s talking to her mom and is shocked to find out that the bookstore closed. She needs a job, so she takes a volunteer (unpaid) position at the theater. To help make ends meet, she picks up a side gig at a catering company. And guess who else works there? Yep, it’s Max. After a party, he helps her take the Christmas tree to her place. She asks if they could recreate the rooftop situation to see what happened; they do, and they kiss. But then she’s like, “Okay, so now we know we’re good at that, but I can’t afford any distractions!”

We get a montage of the year. Before we know it, it’s year two. Alice walks into the catering gig, and guess who’s back—it’s Max! While they’re out looking for a tree for a party, he explains that he never meant to ignore her; he was just intimidated by how smart she is. At the party, naturally, it leads to a performance. A bad one, but a performance nonetheless.

Alice is shocked when Lisa from the theater shows up. She confides in Max that maybe she lied about “crushing it” at the theater—it was a complete failure. She says, “Volunteering was a lot harder than I expected. It took so much more of my time, and eventually, I just had to work more and stopped showing up.” Max admits he hasn’t booked anything either and is mostly just bartending. When he finds out she’s spending Christmas alone this year, he’s shocked. On their way out, Lisa thanks them for charming her family into joining the board and tells Alice she’s welcome back at the theater anytime.

We get another montage of the year: Max texting Alice and her not texting back. Now it’s year three, and we see that Max finally booked a gig—as an elf in a print ad. She sees him and is like, “Oh, sorry for ghosting you,” and he’s like, “It’s really no big deal. We’re friends. Just friends. It’s good.”

It’s time to cater together again. Alice’s friend invites her to move to New York, but Alice is like, “Oh no, I couldn’t; I have so much going on here.” Max and Alice have a moment looking at the Christmas tree. They almost hold hands but don’t quite make it. He tells her he has to go back to LA tomorrow for a callback for a big movie!

Alice goes to meet with Lisa, who offers her a real job as an assistant director…paid! She immediately says yes and heads back to the Christmas party with her friends, excited. When she realizes which movie Max is up for, she shares her good news, and they celebrate as friends do—with a big kiss. Afterwards, they talk about whether the kiss changes anything. Max says he’d like to give this a shot, but Alice says, “I’d just be a distraction when you’re about to have your big break. Let’s just keep being smart.” Max is sad. Alice is sad. But what can you do?

We get another year montage, showing Alice never getting to talk to Max because he’s so busy. It’s now year four, and Alice finds out one of the parties they’re catering is a celebration for Max’s movie, thrown by his parents. At the party, Max tries to apologize for Alice ghosting him, but he’s like, “It’s fine.” Clearly not wanting to have this conversation, she tries to go inside and accidentally spills wine all over Daphne Day, his co-star and a superstar. Alice has an idea—they put Daphne to work with an apron, and it ends up being a smash hit with the press. Alice sees Max and Daphne looking at the pictures together—very closely, I might add—and feels a bit jealous.

After the party, Max tells Alice he’s not dating Daphne. In fact, they barely like each other and are just doing it for the press. Alice loves it. She invites Max to come over for Christmas dinner. They spend the night watching Christmas movies, wake up, and spend the day laughing and having fun. He asks her to come with him to LA for the premiere—and also just for life. He says he’s fallen so in love with her. She says she needs to think about it and leaves, but later she says yes!

Just as she’s about to leave, she gets a call from Lisa. Lisa wants her to basically run the theater. Alice suggests they try long-distance, but Max says, “If we wanted to try that, we would have by now. We can’t keep doing this year after year. We can’t keep waiting.”

We get another montage of the year, showing Alice working hard at the theater and loving life. It’s Christmas again, and naturally, Max shows up to watch the show…and to cater. Alice sees him at a Christmas party, and he’s acting all weird. She tells him she loves him, and he tells her to break a leg.

The show is a hit, but afterward, she’s not happy, and it’s freaking her out. This is all she’s ever wanted. She talks to her mom, who tells her to follow her heart. Alice is told to take some sliders out to the alley, where Max is waiting. They both share that success would be better if they could share it together…just like Christmas. They kiss and decide to make it work!