Review

When Christmas Calls, Answer with Hot Cocoa and Kleenex

Sub A Festive Blast from the Past that Even Santa's Reindeer Would Watch on a Loop

When it comes to Hallmark movies, especially those beloved Hallmark holiday movies, one must prepare for an inundation of things: an overdose of red and green decor, snow that's fluffier than any real snow could ever aspire to be, and heartwarming moments so saccharine you might consider investing in a dentist membership. 'A When Calls the Heart Christmas,' however, takes this festive formula and adds a pinch of pioneer pizazz that's sure to leave your jingle bells ringing.

Set in the fictional town of Hope Valley—a place so quaint even Thomas Kinkade would be envious—this movie takes you on a merry, log-cabin-lined journey that answers the age-old question: What happens when Hallmark decides to take holiday cheer back to a time without wifi or SATNAV? The answer involves a script with more foreshadowing than your grandma’s knitting club mystery novels.

Elizabeth Thatcher (played by the ever-poised Erin Krakow) is a teacher on a mission with the kind of resolve you usually only see in seasoned mystery crackers or pumpkin pie bakers. Jack Wagner’s Bill Avery, meanwhile, dishes out wisdom in the same way a grandma dispenses peppermint candies—freely and with the assumption you probably weren’t paying attention the first time.

True to Hallmark holiday movies form, there’s the requisite “will they or won’t they” tension, which is about as unpredictable as finding Rudolph’s red nose guiding Santa’s sleigh. Spoiler: they "will," but not before a journey filled with emotional roller-coasters that make the Frontier Act like a day at the county fair.

The plot centers around a grand Christmas celebration, a town that’s seen better (and less frozen) days, and a collectibles librarian who probably moonlights as a ghost of Christmas Past, Present, and Future. Along the way, be prepared for horses that think they’re models, and kids from the local school who manage to be simultaneously precocious and miraculously well-dressed for this time of year.

As the snow falls gracefully—most likely crafted in a Hallmark lab where magical Christmas nostalgia is curated—so too do all the characters realize that Christmas spirit isn't about what you have, but who you’re with. It’s a moral everyone saw coming before the first snowflake fell.

In summary, if you're a fan of Hallmark movies with all the mastery of improbable yuletide coincidences and character growth moments that can’t be bound by time, a remote, or even a simple 21st-century love story, 'A When Calls the Heart Christmas' is your sleigh ride to merry old-timey frivolity. So grab some hot cocoa, let your Kleenex be your closest companion, and prepare for a holiday heartwarming experience even your most stoic relative will secretly enjoy—though they'll try to blame it all on the onions.