The Holiday (2021) User Reviews

Dull and over-stretched - a below average potboiler

[JRB-NorthernSoul · 5/10 · 1 March 2022]

Four loosely connected families come together for a luxury holiday in the sun but soon fall out. Flash forwards warn of infidelity, violence and dark secrets uncovered.

For me it was poor all round, Jill Halfpenny was a good lead, rest of the cast were all at sea, script and story were old hat and predictable. Production values were average, the direction was wobbly at times and the score was quite erratic.

Not the worst of C5's recent drama misses but it wasn't good enough to hook me, disappointing piece of work, I can't recommend watching it.

Horrible and Depressing

[rosemaryandthyme · 4/10 · 5 March 2022]

In these current difficult times it would be wonderful to be able to switch off and watch a series that is entertaining and uplifting. The holiday atmosphere and sun, beach, landscapes are lovely but the characters are unlikeable and odious. The main character is so annoying that I am rooting for her poor suffering husband to leave her. She spends the whole time angry and suspicious, ignoring her kids, then playing the protective, caring mother and just being a wet blanket. No-one seems happy and not one of them has any redeeming feature. Honestly I just felt depressed watching this. I give it 4 stars for the location but if you are in need of cheering up avoid this horrible series. With friends like this who needs enemies.

Read the book instead...

[emruvgvnh · 5/10 · 7 March 2022]

So disappointed with this. I love T M Logan's books and had read The Holiday so couldn't wait to watch this on TV.

Wish I hadn't bothered. The tv adaptation is terrible. You end up not caring about the characters and the majority of the acting is wooden or over the top.

Don't waste your time and pick up the book instead!

What a miserable bunch they are.

[acunnington-49732 · 2/10 · 3 March 2022]

Recipe: Take 8 miserable, unlikeable, flawed adults.

Add a couple of stroppy teenagers and some incredibly annoying younger children.

Don't forget the staple of all current dramas - secretive mobile phone activity.

And finally put them in a villa in what seems to be a particularly cold and windy Malta.

Result: A flat and relentlessly boring story, the type of which Channel 5 excel at.

so bad it's funny

[bevyz · 5 March 2022]

Some old college friends share a holiday villa with their families. They are all utterly vile to each other and then go about a lot of improbable nonsense. Be certain that you will question the authenticity of just about every line and every screenplay.

I liked it!

[evansp-39777 · 7/10 · 6 March 2022]

Kept me guessing all the way through.l found it intriguing. I may be biased as I fancy the Swedish actress who plays Jenny absolutely rotten! Cor!!

Maybe having been to Malta helped my enjoyment too.

Trailer looked good

[wthxhx · 1/10 · 3 March 2022]

I watched the trailer and thought, yep this looks good. Another 3 or 4 part thriller. Truth is, it's probably the worst thing I've watched in ages. No emotion, no characters, bland actors and a story that didn't get me hooked. Who commissioned this? I remember Jill halfpenny from byker grove-she should have stayed there. Not a series to watch-EVER. Please give me my time back!

Very good TV

[annettekensell · 7/10 · 5 March 2022]

Great twist right to the end. We really enjoyed it. Lara McDonnell has a great future in acting a head of her. Really worth the watch. I can't believe the other reviews, it's actually very good tv. We do feel sorry for Alistair's character.

Dire. Holiday....more like a misery fest.

[Sleepin_Dragon · 3/10 · 29 March 2022]

A group of old uni friends meet up for a holiday in Malta, secrets and lies ruin the break.

First off, it looks freezing, the poor actors do their best to pretend as though it's warm, it looks like Burnley in February.

Dire, I think that's a fair word to describe this painful series. Imagine a soap opera that airs in the middle of the night, that nobody watches, that's what you have here, shockingly bad melodrama.

You spend three hours waiting for something to happen, other than awful parenting, people marching off, and interrupted conversations.

What a waste of the wonderful Aidan McArdle, I can't believe that someone of his class took a role like this. The acting ranges from average to decent.

Dave yourself the hassle, read old editions of The Yellow pages, I assure you that'd be more entertaining.

Painful, 3/10.

It's predictable and stretched out for longer than it should

[jadebay-02050 · 6/10 · 14 July 2022]

So the concept of the film is just very predictable. Abit of a twist in finding out the truth but really stretched out when it didn't have to be. I found it frustrating as you think she's going to do something and then it's longed out more. It's like she was being a terrible detective. I did get quite bored at the last episodes as felt the story line was finished and didn't really care about the police side of things.

Boring

[bodhi_74 · 2/10 · 4 March 2022]

Unfortunately I watched it all, not because I enjoyed it, but for some stupid reason I wanted to see the outcome. Wish I hadn't bothered. It was too long, too dull and I didn't give a s*** about any of the characters. Also I don't know a soul on the planet who would stay on such a mundane, moody, depressing holiday. If you haven't seen this yet, trust the reviews and don't bother!

Really not that bad

[jasonball-97650 · 8/10 · 11 March 2022]

Yeah, this isn't the greatest piece of television ever made, but these reviews here are seriously overly negative. It's a perfectly decent 3 hour drama. It has some twists, some humor, some hard-hitting drama. I think Lara McDonnell is clearly going places. I watched this because I enjoyed her parts in Artemis Fowl and Belfast. She gets the chance to do some serious acting here, and she pulls it off very well. I haven't read the book so I can't speak for changes, but this was genuinely a fun show if you have a taste for interpersonal drama. Obviously, if you don't care about a bunch of married people trying to figure out who's cheating on who, then you won't enjoy it. But I enjoy a bit of interpersonal drama from time to time, and so this was quite satisfying.

Bang On The Book For Genius TM Logan!

[cthetrancedone · 7/10 · 9 April 2022]

TM Logan is a genius writer and I recommend all of his books.

This show has served him well. It captured the book brilliantly. What I 'saw' in the book was put to the screen perfectly. With regards the scenery and characters. It must be challenging to produce a visual from such a twisty novel.

Obviously the book is better as there is more detail and also some small parts that weren't shown in the series including the thumb print and a full explanation of the final twist regarding the young boy.

Kate, Jake & Lucy were excellent. They looked the part and performed bang on.

All in all a well acted cast.

Most of those that are giving this negative reviews obviously don't read books, they're just mindless social media scrollers that have probably never picked up a book in their lives.

The fact is, that the show absolutely nailed it with the adaptation of the book.

I didn't expect much from trashy Channel 5, but they succeeded this time.

What is the point?

[ellarichardson-96369 · 2/10 · 3 March 2022]

The book has not translated to screen. Jill Halfpenny is a good actress. It's extremely slow and the flash-forward to the end at the start of episode 1 is one of my biggest TV gripes. It's like the writer and director knows it's terrible and needs something shocking to grab the audience's attention. They should focus on a good script with engaging characters. The characters appear to hate each other from the start and again, it's extremely slow!

Why do directors do this...

[mikeharris-78248 · 4/10 · 6 March 2022]

It's an ok show, nothing special but definitely not fantastic either. The main problem is as ever with current shows, text messages. Not everyone watches on a tablet or phone and unless you happen to have binoculars next to your sofa don't expect to see what's been written. Just hope it's not relevant to the storyline!

No Time To Relax

[sarah-508-649421 · 6/10 · 8 July 2022]

Imagine going on holiday with a handful of your neighbours. You tolerate your neighbours right? You have to get on with them because you have to live next to them. You think one is having a fling with your husband. You think one is perving over your daughter and one has a delinquent irritating son. Whatever happens you know this ain't going to be a holiday. Yet these people here are meant to be friends and enjoy going away together yet no one is having a good time.

It's not as bad as the rating suggests. Jill Halfpenny is great as harassed wife and mum. I watched it through to see the ending. But beware it is rather all pointless.

Dreadful

[daviddunn-90653 · 1/10 · 4 March 2022]

Just when I thought Channel 5 couldn't come up with anything worse than one of their previous efforts, The Drowning, this latest offering proves to be even more abysmal.

Filled with very unlikeable characters, and a plot that is as slow as a snail, it became an unbearable watch. I jumped ship halfway through the second episode. I just didnt care what happened to these characters, none of whom had any redeeming qualities. As a result i wasnt emotionally invested enough to watch this any further.

Enjoyable drama

[nawudu · 7/10 · 19 July 2022]

Well acted drama with a couple of blind alleys. Layered plot and not too predictable. Enjoyable. Jill Halfpenny is a good actress. Good cast. Lovely scenery of Malta.

Boring. Boring. Boring!

[gerrybarassie · 3/10 · 4 March 2022]

Four episodes of complete boredom. Characters are boring, acting not much better, To show this over 4 consecutive nights is dreadful. One full episode could have told the story. But, even that would have still been unbearable.

Enjoyable with good twists

[Nellie22 · 7/10 · 17 July 2022]

I was dubious about watching this, given the negative reviews it's had. However, I really enjoyed it. It kept me intrigued till the end and I thought the acting by Jill Halfpenny was really solid in her portrayal of the character. Definitely worth a watch.

A pity the fire didn't destroy the recordings.

[johnjs-96269 · 1/10 · 7 March 2022]

What a dismal, depressing series, just what we need at the moment, NOT !!!!!! If you like arguments, falling outs and lots of shouting and F-bombs, then you will love this, I still don't know why I watched it all, I thought it could only get better, wow was I wrong !!!!!!! News 24 is more up beat, and that's saying something.

Good

[alderdene-11790 · 8/10 · 6 March 2022]

Enjoyed it. Good acting. Good plot with smart twists yet easy to follow. Well filmed in picturesque location. Would recommend this as an entertaining binge watch.

Intriguing

[dilbararys-19150 · 7/10 · 9 July 2022]

Don't understand all the bad reviews. Didn't expect much at the beginning but was in the mood for some beautiful holiday like scenery. We ended up watching all 4 episodes in one sitting. Loved the who -dunnit plot which kept the storyline intriguing and the twist at the end was unusual, I haven't seen that coming and thought it was well put together. Acting at times could have been better but overall everyone played their part well (it's their job to play annoying characters! So if they annoyed you that means they played well!).

A solid 7!

Errr

[myassoar · 2/10 · 3 March 2022]

Why would anyone torture themselves with a holiday spent with this lot? Surly, moody teenagers, tick. Annoying younger children, tick. Was there an island in the humongous kitchen? Tick. Affairs between at least two of the holidaymakers, tick. Tensions and things unsaid. Tick.

It's a week in Southport for me. Just to be safe.

Dire, tripe needing an aboitoir

[SplatDcat · 1/10 · 3 March 2022]

What in g*d's name were the investors behind this thinking? We recorded on our DVR this excuse for a show and deleted the entire series after 20 excruciatingly bad minutes.

Avoid avoid avoid!