Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
An LA girl, unlucky in love, falls for an East Coast guy on a dating app and decides to surprise him for Christmas, only to discover that she's been catfished. But the object of her affection actually lives in the same town, and the guy who duped her offers to set them up if she pretends to be his own girlfriend for the holidays.
Love Hard is a formulaic holiday rom-com that hits every expected beat of the genre without much deviation. The catfishing premise offers a mildly fresh hook but quickly settles into predictable territory with the classic mix-up and love-triangle tropes. Acting from Nina Dobrev and Jimmy O. Yang is charming and elevates the material slightly above its script's limitations. Cinematography is functional and serviceable for a Netflix holiday production but unremarkable. The ending delivers the expected feel-good resolution satisfyingly enough for fans of the genre, though it holds no surprises.