Pretty Little Liars fans, your reunion is here. The 12 Dates of Christmas brings Lucy Hale and Ian Harding back together on screen for the first time since their hit series wrapped nine years ago, and the new Hulu romantic comedy premieres on Friday, 6 November 2026. The trailer, released on 2 November 2026, is already doing exactly what a Christmas rom-com trailer should do: awkward dates, festive chaos and one very promising spark.
The 12 Dates of Christmas stars Lucy Hale as Christina Walker, a successful shop owner who has devoted her energy to her career at the expense of her dating life. Her plan to fix that is gloriously simple and gloriously risky: go on 12 dates in the 12 weeks leading up to Christmas, hoping to find Mr. Right before the holidays end.
The 12 Dates of Christmas story: 12 dates, 12 weeks, one Mr. Right
The official logline for The 12 Dates of Christmas says it all. Christina Walker, a successful shop owner who has devoted her energy to her career at the expense of her dating life, goes on 12 dates in the 12 weeks leading up to Christmas hoping to find Mr. Right. It is a structure built for comedy: twelve chances, twelve very different men, and twelve weeks for everything to go wrong in the funniest possible ways.
The trailer opens with Christina spending Christmas Eve with her parents, who are gently — and not so gently — worried that she will end up alone. Her mother in particular makes it clear she does not want her daughter spending another holiday season on her own. That nudge becomes Christina’s pledge: she will not spend another Christmas alone, and she will take dating seriously, one date at a time.
What follows, in the trailer, is a string of hilarious dates that prove dating is not as easy as it sounds. Awkward silences, mismatched expectations and festive mishaps pile up, and The 12 Dates of Christmas leans into all of them. This is not a film about a perfect romance arriving on schedule. It is a film about a woman learning, date by date, what she actually wants.
Lucy Hale and Ian Harding reunite in The 12 Dates of Christmas
The moment every rom-com fan has been waiting for arrives when Christina meets Peter Grant, played by Ian Harding. The trailer gives their meeting a classic romantic-comedy flourish: Peter catches Christina in his arms as she battles an oversized candy cane. It is playful, it is silly, and it is exactly the kind of meet-cute that made Hale and Harding fan favourites as Aria Montgomery and Ezra Fitz in Pretty Little Liars.
There is, of course, a complication. In the trailer, it appears Peter is seeing someone, which means Christina’s path to Mr. Right is not going to run smoothly even after the spark. That tension is the engine of The 12 Dates of Christmas: a genuine connection, an inconvenient obstacle, and twelve weeks to sort it out before Christmas.
For Pretty Little Liars viewers, the reunion is the headline. Hale and Harding shared the screen from 2010 through 2017, and seeing them together again — older, funnier and in a Christmas setting — is a large part of why The 12 Dates of Christmas is already one of the most talked-about holiday films of the season.
The 12 Dates of Christmas cast and director
Lucy Hale leads The 12 Dates of Christmas as Christina Walker, with Ian Harding as Peter Grant. Penelope Ann Miller plays Helen and Paul Ben-Victor plays Frank, Christina’s parents, whose Christmas Eve worries kick the whole story into motion. Greer Grammer plays Bridget, Kahyun Kim plays Molly, and Carter Jenkins and Zack Pearlman also appear in the ensemble.
The film is directed by David Lipper, who co-wrote the screenplay with Seth Howard. Lipper’s direction, judging by the trailer, keeps the tone light and fast: the comedy comes from the dates themselves, not from forcing the romance, and the festive setting never overwhelms the characters.
What the trailer for The 12 Dates of Christmas gets right
The newly released trailer for The 12 Dates of Christmas understands its audience. It does not try to hide that this is a holiday romantic comedy, and it does not apologise for it. Instead, it offers a first glimpse of awkward encounters, family pressure and an unexpected connection, all wrapped in Christmas lights.
That honesty is refreshing. Many Christmas films sell only the sparkle; The 12 Dates of Christmas sells the dating disasters too, which makes the eventual romance feel earned rather than inevitable. The trailer also wisely keeps the ending hidden: viewers know Christina and Peter spark, but they do not know whether, or how, twelve dates lead to Mr. Right by Christmas.
The 12 Dates of Christmas release date and how to watch
The 12 Dates of Christmas premieres on Hulu on Friday, 6 November 2026. It will also be available on Hulu on Disney+ in the United States and on Disney+ internationally. There is no theatrical release announced, so streaming is the way to watch it — a Friday premiere that makes it an easy weekend pick for a cosy night in.
No sequel has been announced, and none is needed: The 12 Dates of Christmas is a complete, self-contained romantic comedy, built around one woman, twelve dates and one Christmas deadline.
Why The 12 Dates of Christmas could be a holiday favourite
Hulu’s Christmas slate is crowded, but The 12 Dates of Christmas has three advantages. First, the Pretty Little Liars reunion gives it a ready-made, passionate audience. Second, the twelve-dates structure is simple, funny and easy to recommend to a friend. Third, Lucy Hale is a natural fit for this kind of warm, quick-witted heroine — Christina feels like a real person, not just a rom-com idea.
If the full film keeps the trailer’s balance of humour and heart, The 12 Dates of Christmas could become one of those festive films viewers return to every November. At the very least, it promises a charming Friday night: twelve dates, one oversized candy cane, and a reunion nine years in the making.
Also read: Odiyan: Age of Illusion movie — and see the trailer coverage at ComingSoon and People.
Image Credit: Hulu — Official Trailer/Poster via YouTube
