This weekend I realised that I’d still not watched a Christmas movie in 2021. I just haven’t felt in the festive mood recently. Thankfully, Netflix were on hand with their traditional outpouring of festive crap. Including the third film to see Vanessa Hudgens pretend to be Vanessa Hudgens. Did I really think that the first Christmas film that I watched this year was going to the third film in The Princess Switch trilogy? No. Am I happy about it? No. Is there anything that I can do about it? No. It’s done. If your first festive film of advent is any indication of how the next year is going to go, then I’m not looking forward to 2022.

At this point, I can’t work out if these films are improving ever so slightly or if I’ve got some sort of weird Stockholm syndrome. It’s not that the third installment of the Vanessa Hudgens Christmas franchise is actually good. After all, I was groaning at the terrible script within the first minute. It’s just that it didn’t manage to crush my festive spirit in the same way that its predecessors have done. But that could have something to do with just how ill I was when I watched it.

The Princess Switch 3 is pretty much the same as the first and second films but with even more characters. This time, instead of having to masquerade as Queen Margaret, the three Hudgens have to pretend to be her socialite cousin Fiona. That means we have to deal with 3 times as much of her terrible British accent. To up the ante from the previous films, the characters do their best Ocean’s 11 impression and try to pull of the perfect heist.

It all starts when a priceless religious relic gets stolen from Queen Margaret’s castle. Instead of letting professionals handle it, the 2 of the Hudgens decide to find the star themselves. To help, they contact Fiona who is currently serving community service after being a very bad girl in the previous movie. Luckily, the relic is stolen by someone she knows, so it’s incredibly easy to get it back. It also means that there is plenty of time for fun. Like two of the Hudgens being unable to walk in Fiona’s impressively high heels. Hilarious.

I know we don’t expect these films to be good but that doesn’t mean the people making them can give up. It feels as though the only person putting in any effort is Vanessa Hudgens. All that does is make me feel sorry for Vanessa Hudgens. I’m sure people will love the third film in The Princess Switch series but that doesn’t mean it isn’t stupid and full of plot-holes. Anyone who doesn’t immediately know how this is going to turn out is clearly watching their first ever film. We can only hope that Netflix doesn’t keep this trilogy going next year.