Warning: Light spoilers ahead.

The wildest, most delightful holiday movie you’ll watch this year isn’t on Hallmark or Netflix. No, that honor goes to Freeform’s Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas, a left-of-center rom-com about both relationship ghosting and literal ghosts. (It premiered Wednesday night, December 4, on the network.) At one point, the literal ghost is the one doing the relationship ghosting.

The movie centers on Jess (The Bold Type‘s Aisha Dee), a single twenty-something who goes on a date with the very hot and charming Ben (Kendrick Sampson). They hit things off, exchange numbers, and cutely text on their respective drives home. But then Jess dies in a car crash, unbeknownst to Ben, who assumes she’s ghosting him. It turns out she’s now an actual ghost who can’t ascend to the afterlife. The key, she realizes, is to finish whatever unfinished business she has on Earth.

There are only two people who can see Jess as a ghost: Ben, of course, and her best friend, Kara (Kimiko Glenn), who helps her figure out what this said “unfinished business” is. At first, they think it’s finding true love with Ben, so he and Jess go on some dates. (Remember, she’s a ghost, so, to the outside world, it looks like he’s talking to himself.) Eventually, they have sex during the winter solstice because, for whatever reason, that’s the only time Ben can “feel” Jess like a human. Don’t ask me. This is a movie about ghosts.

But the boning doesn’t work: Jess still can’t ascend. It’s only after she gets in a fight with Kara that she realizes her true love isn’t with Ben: It’s with, well, Kara. This isn’t a romance, though: The takeaway from [Ghosting: The Spirit of Christmas is that worthwhile friendships, like the one Kara and Jess have, reign supreme over any relationship. Tender!

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