It doesn’t have those beats that help characters take after the charisma of their respective actors, or the inspired comedy that shakes up such automatic storytelling. With so many characters to juggle, and emotional boo-boos to nurse, “Let It Snow” always feels in motion, in a bad way.

You can guess where all of these stories go-it’s not just the Waffle House party denouement, arranged by cheesy DJ Keon ( Jacob Batalon of ' Spider-Man: Homecoming'), that’s the obvious destination-you’ll just wish it tried to be more fun and funny along the way. Then, there’s the frustrated Addie ( Odeya Rush of “ Lady Bird”), who is so caught up in getting attention from her crummy boyfriend that she pushes away her truly accepting friend Dorrie ( Liv Hewson of “Santa Clarita Diet”), who has her own problems crushing on a girl who isn't out. Across town, the neurotic Tobin ( Mitchell Hope of “Descendants”) wants to say something to his Sonic Youth t-shirt-wearing friend and longtime crush The Duke ( Kiernan Shipka, of “Chilling Adventures of Sabrina”), but is just too gosh darn shy to do so. They're like junior versions of rom-com prototypes, like introverted Julie ( Isabela Moner from “ Dora and the Lost City of Gold,”) who hangs out with a famous, secretly lonely pop star named Stewart ( Shameik Moore of “ Spider-Man: Into the Spider-Verse”), and downplays what others would consider a fantasy day with him. Adapted from the book by John Green, Maureen Johnson and Lauren Myracle, director Luke Snellin’s 'Let It Snow' follows a group of high school seniors on a snowy Christmas Eve, each with some void to fill, or a vulnerability to be addressed.

Cast of let it snow