Netflix holiday romcom series Dash & Lily is hard to resist

The Hollywood Reporter

"Do not fall into Dash & Lily's trap," says Robyn Bahr. "Within the first few minutes of Netflix's whimsical eight-episode Y.A. holiday rom-com, you may immediately come to despise its protagonists — a sneering, disaffected, floppy-haired rich kid and a peppy, idealistic, kiss-starved mousling — due to the cloying contrivances of their meet-cute alone. Just days before Christmas Eve, in the hallowed stacks of NYC bookstore The Strand, contrarian Dash (Austin Abrams) finds a notebook containing riddles and puzzles about clues hidden around the cavernous building. Lily (Midori Francis) flirtatiously narrates the quest as Dash plows through the game with heightening fervor. 'She’s sarcastic, sophisticated ...sadistic,' he fawns later to a friend, never once considering the notebook's author may not be the dream girl he's envisioning. In the meantime, you may become nauseous from the faux-literary snobbery, shouting at the screen 'Reading is NOT a personality!' (Swotty gushing over J.D. Salinger's Franny and Zooey is practically a pop culture cliché at this point.) By the end of the episode, I desperately wanted You's Joe Goldberg to pop out from a shadow and gobble up both these teen pseudointellectuals. You see, I had fallen squarely into the show's trap: Like Dash, I had been catfished."

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• Dash & Lily is as much a hopeful fantasy series as it is a charming romantic one: "Christmas in the city has rarely looked so bright, sparkly, or promising as it does in Dash & Lily, which unabashedly shows New York at its most gleaming," says Caroline Framke. "Directors Brad Silberling and Fred Savage pump the charm factor through the roof, while Pamela Romanosky’s strong pair of episodes ('Hanukkah' and 'Cinderella') get to lean into the fairy tale 'anything could happen' vibe, sending Lily down rabbit holes she never would have entertained before Dash picked up her notebook. New York landmarks like Grand Central Station, The Strand and even the particularly festive neighborhood of Dyker Heights get moments in the spotlight, each bathed in a supernaturally warm glow. Dash & Lily loves this version of New York City so much that it politely refuses to acknowledge the presence of any single rat or steaming pile of garbage."
• Dash & Lily is charming as all get-out thanks to a swell marriage between its performers, filmmakers, and writers all working in lockstep towards just the right tone
• Dash & Lily is a reminder of classic romcom films like While You Were Sleeping and Sleepless in Seattle