Single All the Way

Single All the Way is a 2021 Canadian Christmas romantic comedy film directed by Michael Mayer and written by Chad Hodge.

The plot follows Peter (Michael Urie) who convinces Nick, his best friend (Philemon Chambers), to pretend to be his boyfriend when he goes home for Christmas, only to be set up on a blind date by his mother (Kathy Najimy).

Peter, a social media strategist living in Los Angeles, is tired of his entire family asking him about his single status each year when he visits them for the holidays.

They enjoy themselves, though Peter repeatedly brings up Nick in conversation and he begins to feel torn between spending his limited time with James versus his family.

As Peter heads to the bar with James to celebrate the pageant's success, Nick packs his bags and prepares to return to Los Angeles, but takes on one more handyman job of re-painting a shop whose owner is retiring.

In March 2021, Variety reported that Michael Mayer would direct Single All the Way, a Christmas-themed romantic comedy about gay men, for Netflix.

[1] Hodge wrote the character of Aunt Sandy with Jennifer Coolidge in mind, saying that she was among the things that he "would want to see in a gay Christmas movie", without knowing at first whether she would agree to be part of the film.

[16] Though Benjamin Lee of The Guardian commented that the film's "overwhelming conventionality ... is kind of the point" as it places gay characters in a familiar setting, he felt that it was too formulaic.

Ferdosi Abdi, writing for Screen Rant, commented that "the chemistry between the pair is palpable" and described Peter and Nick as "one of the strongest depictions of a couple" within the Christmas romantic comedy genre.

[18] On the other hand, Teo Bugbee of The New York Times felt that the two actors were not close enough in many scenes and that it was even "difficult to believe the pair as best friends".

[16][20] Writing for the San Francisco Chronicle, Carla Meyer complimented the film's incorporation of various aspects of gay culture, contrasting it with the Hallmark Channel's The Christmas House (2020), which she criticized for "narratives that de-emphasize sexuality and promote their 'just like us' qualities".