Review

A Newport Christmas: Time-Traveling in Taffeta

If you’ve ever watched Downton Abbey and thought, “This could use a comet and a time warp,” then A Newport Christmas is your Christmas miracle. In the grand tradition of Hallmark movies that casually defy both logic and physics, this entry gives us Ella, a 1905 socialite who sails into the future—because apparently all it takes to travel through time is a schooner, a snowstorm, and a little upper-class angst.

As with most Hallmark holiday movies, there’s a lot of inexplicable magic, zero concern for scientific accuracy, and a love interest who conveniently has the jawline of a man who chops firewood recreationally. Wes Brown plays said love interest—a modern-day historian who reacts to Ella’s time-travel story with the calm patience of someone who’s seen one too many Hallmark movies and knows resistance is futile.

The movie’s Newport setting is gorgeous, packed with mansions, mistletoe, and the kind of Christmas decor that could singlehandedly power Rhode Island’s electrical grid. Ella spends the film trying to decide whether to return to her era or stay in 2025, and frankly, once she discovers indoor plumbing and oat milk lattes, it’s not much of a cliffhanger.

By the end, there’s snow, a kiss, and at least three different shades of red velvet gowns—all the makings of a Hallmark classic. A Newport Christmas is charming, ridiculous, and exactly what you expect from a Hallmark holiday movie: a glittering snow globe of romance, time travel, and zero concern for causality.

Four candy canes out of five for festive nonsense, historical confusion, and perfectly coiffed hair across two centuries.