When you consider the creative team behind When Harry Met Sally, it comes as no surprise that the movie has remained fresh, relevant, and universally beloved ever since its release in 1989. Written by Nora Ephron, famous for books like Heartburn and movies like Sleepless in Seattle, and directed by Rob Reiner, who helmed beloved films like This is Spinal Tap and The Princess Bride, When Harry Met Sally stars Billy Crystal and Meg Ryan as Harry and Sally, who meet after college in 1977.
After the two new friends drive from the University of Chicago to New York together as they separately prepare for a move to the Big Apple, Harry and Sally fight over whether or not men and women can just be friends. Ultimately, they part ways, assuming they'll never meet again. However, throughout the years, they keep meeting again and again and eventually form a close friendship, and despite their shared resistance, they eventually fall in love.
With that in mind, it's easy to see where The Holidate — where Sloane (Emma Roberts) and Jackson (Luke Bracey), two chronically single people, agree to be each others' holiday dates to get through the season with a friend by their side, only to fall in love — takes its inspiration from When Harry Met Sally. As Bracey told Insider, "Emma and John [Whiitesell] and I, the director, we kind of looked towards When Harry Met Sally. That's a great feat, you know? [...] "They're just friends in that one for a lot of it. We wanted to capture that kind of idea of friendship becoming something."
The Holidate is streaming on Netflix now, and When Harry Met Sally is available exclusively on HBO Max.
