Inside Exes of Christmas Past: The Chicago-Made Holiday Rom-Com Turning Real Life Into Movie Magic

Exes of Christmas Past carries the kind of snowy charm and emotional voltage that Chicago winters specialize in. The film trails an ambitious hotel manager who heads home to her family’s B&B for the holidays, only to discover that all three of her high school exes have booked rooms under the same tinsel-draped roof. It’s a setup that crackles like static on a Christmas sweater, and the creative duo behind it knew exactly where this story belonged.

Once again, production unfolded across Chicago and its northwest suburbs, anchoring much of the film in Libertyville. The crew returned to Woodstock as well, stepping back into The Cherry Tree Inn B&B, the cinematic shrine forever tied to Bill Murray’s looping days in Groundhog Day. It’s the same spot the team used for scenes in Reporting for Christmas, and revisiting it feels like opening a long-lost ornament box from the attic.

We caught up with the film’s architects, writer/director Jake Jarvi and writer/producer Eliza Jarvi, at Conscious Cup Coffee Roasters in Libertyville, one of the real locations that made its way into the movie. The Jarvis, a powerhouse husband-and-wife team based in Gurnee, built Exes of Christmas Past as a love letter to Midwest stories, second chances, and the complicated spark of relationships that never fully power down.

But the real twist of holiday fate comes in the casting. The film stars real-life exes turned genuine good friends Brittany Underwood and Alex Trumble. Both are seasoned rom-com veterans, yet this marks the first time they’ve stepped into a storyline as romantic leads together. The result is a chemistry that feels lived-in, a little unpredictable, and undeniably fun — the secret ingredient every good holiday movie hopes to unwrap.

For more Stories From The 78, follow @tombarnas78 on Instagram and @storiesfromthe78 on TikTok.