Yahoo Lifestyle If You Watch One Holiday Movie This Weekend: Hallmark’s The Christmas Quest Is Our Pick
With Hallmark Channel’s annual Countdown to Christmas and Lifetime’s It’s a Wonderful Lifetime now in full swing, and Netflix and other networks loading their sleighs, we’re here once again to help you choose between the season’s many offerings. Each Thursday, we’ll spotlight the original holiday romance that should be at the top of your weekend list and preview why other debuts will make you merry.
THE ONE TO WATCH
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The Christmas Quest
(premieres Sunday, Dec. 1 at 8 pm on Hallmark Channel)
If you’ve ever wondered what Hallmark’s take on Indiana Jones meets Mr. & Mrs. Smith would look like, this is it. The Christmas Quest is also peak holiday destination fare from Lacey Chabert, who’s starred in Hallmark Christmas movies for more than a decade and shot seasonal films on location in Scotland, Ireland and Italy. Here, she’s badass archaeologist Stefanie, who’s offered the opportunity to complete her late mother’s search for the legendary treasure of Iceland’s naughty Yule Lads and needs to enlist her ex-husband, dead-language expert Chase (Kristoffer Polaha), as her translator of ancient Norse runes. They haven’t seen each other in two years, but they fall right back into their bantering ways, whether trekking to a lava cave, outwitting adversaries at a black tie gala (cue a swoonworthy Notorious homage), or relaxing in the swanky apartment paid for by Stefanie’s benefactor.
Chabert and Polaha prove formidable partners in their first pairing, and we hope it won’t be the last time we see them skulking around with flashlights. This set-up seems perfect to launch a new Hallmark Mystery franchise, Mr. & Mrs. Baxter, in which their dynamic duo jets off for more expeditions where she takes point and he, newer to the field, is astounded hearing stories of her past perils. We’d consider it a worthy replacement for Polaha’s sadly now defunct Mystery 101 detective film series and another chance for Chabert to be a trailblazer on the network. Let’s go!
Runner-Up: Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story
Our runner-up pick, Holiday Touchdown: A Chiefs Love Story (premieres Saturday, Nov. 30 at 8 pm on Hallmark Channel), is a love letter to football fans everywhere. A family of Kansas City Chiefs diehards, who own a Chiefs merch store, have three goals this holiday season. One: Hook single daughter Alana (Hunter King) up with new-to-town Derrick (Tyler Hynes), who, unbeknownst to them at first, is the team’s director of fan engagement. Two: Win the Chiefs’ Fan of the Year contest, the campaign for which brings rolling stone Derrick closer to their tightknit fold. And three: Ensure that someone in their clan wears their lucky Chiefs hat on Christmas Day, a superstition believed essential to the team securing another Super Bowl berth. The movie filmed at Arrowhead Stadium, and features cameos from Coach Andy Reid, players such as wide receiver Mecole Hardman Jr. and guard Trey Smith, Instagram celebrity Catrick Mahomes, and Donna Kelce (portraying a jersey-sporting cashier, as she did in Hallmark’s recent Philly-set Christmas on Call). But our MVP is Ed Begley Jr., who, as Alana’s grandpa, represents the heart of this story about the way football brings people together, passes traditions through generations, and creates the occasional magic.
The Best of the Rest…
Our Little Secret (streaming now on Netflix)
In Netflix’s most unhinged Christmas comedy of 2024, childhood sweethearts Avery (Lindsay Lohan) and Logan (Ian Harding) are shocked to find themselves celebrating the holidays at the same home 10 years after their breakup — as guests of their current unlikable lovers, who happen to be siblings. They agree to keep their history secret and strike a deal: Logan will help Avery impress her beau’s prickly mother (Kristin Chenoweth), and she’ll help him write a business proposal. There’s THC-infused candy kicking in at church and cheating, but also a conventional moral (the past is what makes you who you are) and a happy ending.
The Finnish Line (premieres Sunday, Dec. 1 at 6 pm on Hallmark Channel)
It’s another one of Hallmark’s best holiday destination films: Up-and-coming musher Anya (Kim Matula) heads to Finland to avenge her late father’s loss in a dangerous dog-sledding race that was both the end of his lauded career and how he met her mother. When Anya’s lead dog is injured, former racer-turned journalist Cole (Beau Mirchoff) offers his veteran as a sub in exchange for the chance to profile Anya. No spoilers… other than you’ll agree with Anya’s pal Elyse (Superstore’s hilarious Nichole Sakura) when she refers to Cole as “the missing Hemsworth brother” (see: the cold plunge and sauna sequence).
Believe in Christmas (premieres Saturday, Nov. 30 at 6 pm on Hallmark Channel)
This charmer may remind you a bit of the 2013 Keri Russell movie Austenland. Journalist Beatrice (Meghan Ory) agrees to accompany her festive bestie Em (Lindura) on her prize-winning trip to Christmasland, a Massachusetts town devoted to the holidays. As the inn owner’s son, Ethan (John Reardon), begins showing Beatrice around — and Em keeps noting all the holiday movie clichés unfolding — both women are left wondering if their suitors are real or part of the town’s act.
A ‘90s Christmas (premieres Friday, Nov. 29 at 6 pm on Hallmark Channel)
After celebrating the promotion she’s always wanted alone, workaholic Chicago divorce lawyer Lucy (Eva Bourne) takes a magical cab ride home — to 1999 Milwaukee. She relives the first Christmas after the death of her father, which was the start of her distancing herself from her best friend/crush Matty (Chandler Massey), her grieving mother Tina (Kate Drummond) and her closeted sister Alexa (Alex Hook). Will she still choose to run when Matty tries to kiss her, or will she be brave (and empathetic) enough to rewrite her future? P.S. Let’s not pretend that having doodled Joshua Jackson’s name back then is embarrassing today, Lucy.
Debbie Macomber’s Joyful Mrs. Miracle (premieres Thursday, Nov. 28 at 8 pm on Hallmark Channel)
Rachel Boston makes an excellent new angelic lead in the Mrs. Miracle franchise. She’s Annie Merkel, an estate planner refereeing the holidays for three adult siblings. Single mom Charlotte (Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes) and her fisticuff-prone brothers, buttoned-up Benedict (Matthew James Dowden) and shady Henry (Max Lloyd-Jones), must unanimously decide which one of them will take over their late grandmother’s seat on the board of a family business. We don’t see enough people owing money to the mob on Hallmark!
Christmas Under the Lights (premieres Wednesday, Nov. 27 at 8 pm and Sunday, Dec. 1 at 6 pm on Hallmark Mystery)
L.A.-based event planner Emily (Heather Hemmens) reluctantly returns home to a Seattle suburb to help her brother, Nick (Antonio Cayonne), organize their late mother’s beloved Christmas Carnival on the family’s animal rescue farm. As Emily comes to terms with her past, she and Nick’s buddy, divorced artist Luke (Marco Grazzini), find ways to move forward with their lives together. A Hallmark favorite makes a surprise cameo.
Deck the Walls (premieres Friday, Nov. 29 at 8 pm on Hallmark Channel)
The quippiest film of the week! Interior designer Rose (Ashley Greene) begrudgingly flies home to Colorado to help her brother, Sal (Danny Pellegrino), and his business partner, contractor Brysen (Wes Brown), renovate their Christmas Charity House Flip on a tight deadline and even tighter budget. Of course, there’s time for Rose and her old unrequited crush Brysen to work through their avoidance and trust issues, respectively, and for Sal to find forgiveness (and maybe something more) with his former bully, journalist Jake (Claybourne Elder).
A Cinderella Christmas Ball (premieres Friday, Nov. 29 at 8 pm on Great American Family)
Chicago-based dance instructor Chelsea (Danica McKellar) travels abroad to Havenshire, hoping to learn more about her birth mother and, more importantly, the identity of a man in a recently uncovered wedding photo who could be her lost father. Through a twist of fate, she gets hired to teach the Prince (Oliver Rice) the waltz he’s expected to perform with whomever he chooses to be his bride at a Christmas Eve ball, and he becomes invested in her search. Prepare for multiple romantic dances to Christmas carols (Dancing With the Stars vet McKellar is actually quite good).
Nutcrackers (streaming Friday, Nov. 29 on Hulu)
Ben Stiller stars in this rural Ohio-set comedy as estranged Uncle Mike, who’s determined to find his four orphaned nephews a new family so he can get back to his Big City workaholic life. Real-life siblings Homer, Ulysses, Atlas, and Arlo Janson steal scenes as the unruly siblings reacting to a bedtime story about Rambo and staging their own take on The Nutcracker ballet in a heartfelt tribute to their mother.
Dear Santa (streaming now on Paramount+)
In this PG-13 comedy directed by Bobby Farrelly, dyslexic 11-year-old Liam (Robert Timothy Smith), whose parents fight constantly after a family tragedy, writes a letter to Satan and receives a visitor (Jack Black) from hell who offers to grant him three wishes in exchange for his soul. Highlights include Liam taking the stage at a Post Malone concert, an unbilled cameo late in the film that’s part of an amusing twist, and a tearjerker ending.
Home Sweet Christmas (premieres Sunday, Dec. 1 at 8 pm on Great American Family)
Who says you can’t go home and save your great uncle Henry’s maple forest from…people like yourself? Mergers and acquisitions attorney Sophie (Candace Cameron Bure) returns to Washington State to decide what to do with the farm she and her long-lost childhood friend, screenwriter Sammy (Cameron Mathison), have just inherited. While they’re at it, they try to solve the mystery of Henry’s great love and experience one of their own.
BeBe Winans’ We Three Kings (premieres Saturday, Nov. 30 at 8 pm on Lifetime)
When famed musician-turned-record store owner Lincoln King (BeBe Winans) suffers a fall, it brings his three estranged adult daughters — Lydia (Lisa Berry), Gracie (Faith Wright) and Abigail (Bethany Brown) — back together, for better or worse. As the ladies reconnect, Lydia and her husband Mike (Jaime M. Callica) struggle with infertility, surgeon Gracie opens her heart to lawyer Jacob (Hamza Fouad), and pianist Abigail finds her love of music again with the help of upright bassist Sean (Romeo Miller).
A Bluegrass Christmas (premieres Sunday, Dec. 1 at 7 pm on UPtv)
After the biggest bastard of the holiday movie season pulls his funding for her family’s horse sanctuary, horse vet Katie (Amanda Jordan) and the bastard’s apologetic son, Grant (David Pinard), try to convince her Bluegrass legend grandpa Ben (Heartland’s Shaun Johnston) to come out of retirement for a benefit concert. Will reclusive widower Ben’s heart grow three sizes (or at least two, so he’ll agree to let Katie front his old band)? Musical high notes include performances of “Wayfaring Stranger” and a poignant duet of “Go Tell It on the Mountain.”
Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia’s Reunion (streaming Thursday, Nov. 28 on Hallmark+)
The four-film franchise concludes with Olivia (Cindy Busby) delivering wrapped presents to a cabin outside St. Paul — where her unsuspecting ex Ben (Jake Epstein) is awaiting the arrival of his family. A snowstorm keeps the duo stranded for days, affording them plenty of opportunities to rehash why they broke up four-and-a-half years ago, tap into her talent for furnace repairs, and worry about starving before they make it to the gala.
Make or Bake Christmas (premieres Sunday, Dec. 1 at 8 pm on Lifetime)
Vivica A. Fox plays ruthless lifestyle maven Leslie, who threatens to fire her operations manager, Emma (Jasmine Aivaliotis), unless she goes undercover as a seasonal floater at a family bakery that Leslie hopes to acquire and take national. Emma’s loyalty is tested once she sees how well boss Denise Sugarbaker (Jackée Harry) treats her staffs; how handsome Denise’s son, David (Landon Moss). is; and how easily she can get her hands on the bakery’s top-secret recipes (perhaps don’t hand them to a seasonal employee or keep a book titled RECIPES!).
The Day Before Christmas (streaming Thursday, Nov. 28 on BET+)
This set-up is reminiscent of 1996’s One Fine Day: Two single parents, super-organized widow/caterer Nia (Candace Maxwell) and separated dad/photographer Rashaad (Tristan Mack Wilds), have to help each other through a chaotic Christmas Eve work day after their kids miss a field trip and they accidentally swap cell phones and backpacks. Because of traffic, Rashaad must cater the event meant to help Nia secure the loan that will save her from eviction, and Nia must impress the mayor when she takes his family Christmas photo. It all wraps up too easily, but hey, we love a Christmas miracle!
Christmas Time Is Here! Your Guide to 90+ Holiday Movies on Hallmark, Lifetime, Netflix and More in 2024
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