Holiday in the Wild (2019)

Holiday in the Wild is the kind of movie that knows exactly what it is, and that self-awareness is half the battle. Released on Netflix on November 1, 2019, it stars Kristin Davis as Kate, a New Yorker whose husband dumps her on the morning of their second honeymoon to Zambia. So she goes anyway. Alone. In Africa, she meets Derek, a bush pilot played by Rob Lowe, and together they rescue an orphaned baby elephant from poachers. The Christmas season closes in around them. Romance follows.

This is not a complicated film. But it earns more goodwill than it deserves on paper.

Why Africa Works as a Christmas Setting

The film's central gamble is putting Christmas in the African bush. No snow, no mulled wine, no fireplace. Instead: red dust, acacia trees, elephant orphanages, and very blue skies. It's a genuine tonal risk, and the movie mostly pulls it off because the setting isn't a gimmick. The elephant sanctuary at the heart of the story is based on Game Rangers International's Elephant Orphanage Project in Lusaka, Zambia, a real conservation operation that rescues elephants orphaned by poachers.

That real-world grounding gives the movie something most Netflix Christmas romances don't have: a reason to exist beyond filling a content calendar. Kristin Davis has been involved in elephant conservation work for years, and the film happened largely because she pushed for it. Rob Lowe said in a 2019 interview that the movie "is done only because of her."

The result is a Christmas movie that actually has something to say about wildlife conservation, even if it says it gently and while wearing a soft-focus Instagram filter.

The Cast Does Most of the Heavy Lifting

Davis and Lowe have genuine chemistry, which matters enormously in a genre where charm is the whole product. Davis plays Kate as competent and grounded rather than helpless and neurotic, a choice that keeps the film from tipping into cliche. Lowe plays Derek with the relaxed confidence of a man who knows exactly how attractive he is, and the film lets him lean into that without making it the joke.

The most interesting casting decision: Rob Lowe's real-life son, John Owen Lowe, plays Kate's son, Luke. The Lowes don't share scenes of any consequence, but there's something mildly surreal about watching Rob Lowe's actual offspring be the catalyst for the plot's emotional tension.

The supporting cast is thin, which is standard for the genre, but the conservation workers and sanctuary staff who appear in the background give the movie a texture of authenticity that a studio backlot couldn't replicate.

The Elephant in the Room (Literally)

The real scene-stealer is Mkaliva, the baby elephant at the center of the conservation storyline. Mkaliva was an actual GRI rescue, first brought into the sanctuary in August 2017. On set, animal welfare protocols from Game Rangers International governed every interaction. Netflix invested in detailed puppet replicas of Mkaliva so the real elephant wouldn't have to endure repeated takes, and the two versions were reportedly hard to tell apart on camera.

This level of care is worth noting because it's unusual. Baby elephants in film have a history of welfare concerns. The fact that the production worked around the animal rather than the other way around says something about the priorities here.

What the Film Gets Wrong

The plot mechanics are rickety. The ex-husband appears just long enough to be a villain, then disappears. The romance accelerates on the logic of the genre rather than any credible emotional sequence. The script, written by Neal Dobrofsky and Tippi Dobrofsky, doesn't give Kate or Derek much interior life beyond their immediate situation.

At 87 minutes, the film is brief enough that these problems don't fester. Director Ernie Barbarash keeps things moving. When the screenplay runs out of ideas, there is usually an elephant nearby to reset the mood.

The Christmas framing is also the film's weakest element. The holiday arrives in the third act like a scheduled event rather than something the story has been building toward. Decorations appear, carols play softly, and the film announces that yes, this is a Christmas movie now. It works, but only because the audience is already on board.

The Verdict

Holiday in the Wild is comfort food with a better-than-expected ingredient list. It doesn't challenge you, but it doesn't insult you either. The African setting gives it a visual freshness that most of Netflix's Christmas library can't match, and the genuine conservation backstory gives the sentimentality somewhere to land. For a film that could easily have been cynical product, it's surprisingly sincere.

The shot that stays with you is Kate and Derek sitting in silence near the elephant enclosure at dusk, the sky going orange behind them, Mkaliva nearby. No dialogue needed. The movie earned that moment.