There's only one movie you need to watch this New Year's Eve.

With New Year's Eve fast approaching, I know most people are finalising their grand plans for joy, merriment, and whatever else comes with a night out on the town. But if you're staying in on December 31, or you're planning to watch a film with cocktails before heading out to see the fireworks, then you might be in need of a movie recommendation.

Enter Last Holiday.

How would you spend your final few weeks on this earth if you knew your death was imminent? That's the question Last Holiday answers. But this isn't an existential movie. No! It's a lighthearted rom-com with deathly undertones. And I love it.

I especially love watching it on New Year's Eve, with the film being set during the holiday season. It's streaming on Netflix, by the way, making it extra easy to stream… because I know y'all have that.

Cheers to this iconic film! Image: Paramount Pictures.

Starring Queen Latifah in the lead role, this 2006 movie follows a dowdy and down-on-her-luck gal named Georgia Byrd.

Georgia has dreams of becoming a professional chef, with a book of 'possibilities' she keeps in secret to hide all her hopes of becoming a renowned member of the culinary world. She's also got a secret crush on her co-worker, who features heavily in the possibilities book. More on that in a moment.

By night, she whips up delicious meals she feeds to her neighbours (and never eats herself, because she's not particularly kind to herself). By day, she works in the cookware section of Kragen's Department Store.

Her boss is, politely, a jackass. He's the very worst and is always up in her business for some reason, despite her being great at her job.

I would also look at her boss like this. Trash. Image: Paramount Pictures.

While flirting with her co-worker Sean (played by LL Cool J), she smacks her head on a cupboard and is knocked unconscious. Being sent for a scan by her employer, Georgia learns she's been secretly battling deadly brain tumours, courtesy of a rare disorder called Lampington's disease. She has just a few weeks to live. Sad!

Underappreciated and taken for granted by her family, her work, and basically everyone, she gives up on it all. She quits her job! She withdraws all her cash! She's going to put herself first, damn it, making all of her 'possibilities' a reality!

"I'm going to blow it all," she tells the snooty bank man when he asks what she's planning to do with all this cash.

The first step is booking a ticket to Europe, where she stays at the deluxe Grandhotel Pupp in the Czech Republic's spa city of Karlovy Vary. With a restaurant helmed by her favourite chef, Chef Didier (Gérard Depardieu), she's in for a treat.

From a helicopter landing, to an immediate shopping spree, to the ultimate room upgrade, Georgia is committed to throwing dollars at every problem that comes her way and it sure is working for her.

Will someone PLEASE take me there. Image: Paramount Pictures.

She immediately clicks with Chef Didier over their shared love of food, and I have to tell you the cooking scenes and expansive culinary shots are truly mouth-watering. Every time I watch this movie I spend the next 24-48 hours pretending I'm going to become a chef. I do not. But Georgia sure has plans!

Spa treatments, decadent dinners, snowboarding, base jumping, gambling: It's all in a day for our girl as she blows through her money on holiday.

The one snag in an otherwise perfect plan is that the world's most annoying man, Matthew Kragen (Timothy Hutton), is in the same hotel. And yes, that is Kragen as in Kragen's Department Store.

Kragen doesn't like that Georgia is effervescent and popular with his crew of rich cronies, and for some odd reason becomes obsessed with outing her for being 'fake'. Which is a weird thing to do but I guess rich people need hobbies, too.

While Kragen plots and schemes, Georgia enjoys her final vacation.

Georgia hits the slopes. And she hits them hard. Image: Paramount Pictures.

While it sure is fun watching a regular person spend thousands of dollars having the time of their life, the underlying theme here is that our time on earth is finite and our lives are precious. And Georgia fears she wasted hers.

"Next time, we'll do things right," she tells herself in the mirror, in one particularly poignant scene.

Yeah, this movie is lighthearted fluff dressed up in a serious theme. But that doesn't make it any less enjoyable or touching.

With Georgia's holiday extravaganza culminating in a New Year's Eve to remember, this is one of the best films to watch for some joy and reflection on December 31st.

Still not sold? Fine! Watch the trailer for Last Holiday below. Or check out our guide to the best New Year's Eve themed movies to watch right now, click here.

Feature Image: Paramount Pictures.