Zooey Deschanel accidentally delivered one of this season’s most watchable holiday films with her new rom-com, Merv.

“I didn’t think it was a Christmas movie when I read the script. I thought it was a rom-com with a dog, which I was happy to do,” Deschanel, 45, exclusively told Us Weekly ahead of the film’s Wednesday, December 10, release. “And then it was like, ‘Oh, it’s set at Christmas!’”

Deschanel explained that while there are plenty of festive feelings in Merv, viewers shouldn’t go into the film assuming it’s “the kind of Christmas movie where there’s elves and Santa Claus and reindeer” — like, say, her other notable holiday classic, 2003’s Elf? “Christmas is a little sprinkling, like, an element,” she said. “What I love is that it has Christmas, but it’s something you could watch

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