Melissa McCarthy stars as a genie in ‘Love Actually’ director’s new holiday film

It’s that time of year again when many people crave those feel-good holiday rom-coms, and all of our moms have the Hallmark Channel on 24/7 until the New Year with all of those holiday movies. But there’s a non-Hallmark holiday movie to keep your eyes peeled for. 

Richard Curtis has created a brand-new holiday comedy for our hearts and eyes to enjoy. starring the fabulous and hilarious Melissa McCarthy. Genie premieres on Peacock Nov. 22, with McCarthy starring as Flora, a genie that needs to help poor Bernard (Paapa Essiedu), who truly needs all the holiday magic he can get. 

Bernard lost his job, got fired, and missed his daughter’s birthday, basically all at once—so he is definitely in need of a genie and some holiday magic to get him out of his slump. 

Flora is released from a jewelry box and she grants Bernard unlimited wishes—a fun twist from the traditional genie narratives. And as it turns out, Flora and Bernard need each other, as he shows her what she’s been missing in the world for the last 2,000 years. In the trailer, we see that Flora is introduced to fancy underwear (which she slingshots across a store), hand sanitizer (which she eats), and learns that Jesus was indeed the son of God, when before she was cast into the jewelry box, she claims she thought he was kidding. 

All of this fun while Flora is trying to get his family to love him again in time for Christmas. 

Genie is based on Curtis’ teleplay Bernard and Genie and is directed by Sam Boyd, who is the creator of Love Life. 

Watch the full trailer here and catch this cute holiday movie on Peacock on Nov. 22.