Alicia Silverstone, Oliver Hudson Navigate Divorce in ‘Merry Little Ex-Mas’ Trailer (Exclusive)

Alicia Silverstone and Oliver Hudson are contemplating a big midlife change right in the middle of the holiday season in A Merry Little Ex-Mas.

PEOPLE has an exclusive first look at the Netflix rom-com, which stars Silverstone and Hudson, both 49, as parents of two who find themselves beginning to drift apart as they face becoming empty-nesters.

“Recently divorced Kate (Silverstone) hopes for one last perfect family Christmas before selling her house,” reads a synopsis. “But her holiday plans are hilariously derailed when her ex-husband Everett (Hudson) unexpectedly introduces his younger and successful new girlfriend (Jameela Jamil).”

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Hudson tells PEOPLE his chemistry with Silverstone “was pretty immediate” on set, despite not having met each other before making A Merry Little Ex-Mas together.

“You have chemistry with people, but you can also create chemistry if you’re on the same page,” he says. “We had really nice conversations prior and got together when we were in Toronto and worked on the script and dialogue. Even just those short periods of time where we were able to get to know each other a little was enough of a spark to create something.”

Silverstone says she and Hudson “got a concentrated amount of time together” in the airport on the way to Toronto, and got to know each other as they “traveled like a family” — especially considering Hudson’s son Wilder, who makes his acting debut in A Merry Little Ex-Mas, was with his dad.

“I handed [Oliver] my passport and I was like, ‘Okay, Daddy, you take care of everything,’ ” the Clueless star tells PEOPLE. “That was fun.”

Though she wasn’t familiar with the Dawson’s Creek alum before they worked together, “I think he’s a really good actor,” Silverstone says of Hudson.

“When we were together, we were both just very present with each other,” she recalls. “I think we did have a very good working chemistry for sure. It made it really fun. I loved acting with him.”

Aside from Silverstone, Hudson and Jamil, 39, A Merry Little Ex-Mas also stars Pierson Fodé (The Wrong Paris) and Melissa Joan Hart, and is directed by Steve Carr from a script by Holly Hester. Melissa, 49, and her mother Paula Hart produced under their Hartbreak Films banner.

In an art-imitating-life debut, Wilder, 18, plays the son of his dad’s character Everett. According to Hudson, his eldest child “had never done anything before” acting-wise and “had just finished an acting class outside of school” when he got the part.

For one specific scene near the end of the movie, “He was really nervous about it, because it was a big speech,” Hudson says. “And I’m sitting there listening in the movie, and after his first take, I, for the first time, just started crying. Because I couldn’t believe that this was my son.”

Wilder wasn’t the only child of a principal cast member on set, either, as Silverstone’s 14-year-old son Bear makes a cameo too.

“Bear brought a friend with him, and they were extras in the part where Pierson and I run to go to the sledding adventure with everyone,” she says. “They played a lot with each other, but also with Pierson. Pierson was very kind to them and playful with them.”

“Also, I just snuggled my son as much as I could,” Silverstone adds of their time together on set.

Hudson tells PEOPLE that the movie, which includes plenty of slapstick moments, is “about this separation when maybe … [the characters] could have worked through it.”

“Alicia and I did a lot of talking about it and trying to understand why,” he adds. “Walking this line of a fun Christmas movie but really trying to ground it, because you’re dealing with real subject matter that people can relate to.”

A Merry Little Ex-Mas is on Netflix Nov. 12.