Review

Movie Review: Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing
Subtitle: “Where Holiday Cheer is Loud, Love is Louder, and the Bells Never Stop.”

Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing is Hallmark’s triumphant return to the most aggressively festive town in America. If you thought the previous Evergreen movies packed in enough decorations to fill a warehouse, think again—this one takes it up a notch with even more lights, snow, and a bell subplot so dramatic it might as well have its own theme song.

The movie centers on Michelle (Holly Robinson Peete), who’s back in Evergreen, balancing her new job as the town’s Christmas Museum curator (a very real and very important position, apparently) and planning her wedding to her long-distance fiancé. But don’t worry, this is Evergreen, where small-town drama and holiday miracles are served up like hot cocoa.

Holly Robinson Peete brings warmth and charm to Michelle, who juggles her many responsibilities with the grace of someone who’s been living in a Hallmark movie for years. Meanwhile, the supporting cast of Evergreen’s beloved residents is back in full force—because in Evergreen, everyone knows your business and is happy to meddle in it, all while wearing coordinating Christmas sweaters.

The movie’s main conflict revolves around a mysterious set of bells that have been missing for years and are somehow key to the town’s Christmas spirit. Michelle makes it her mission to find these bells, because apparently no one else in town has bothered to look for them despite their life-or-death importance to the holiday vibe. Along the way, she reconnects with her fiancé, solves the bell mystery, and helps everyone in Evergreen remember what Christmas is all about.

Highlights of this snowy spectacle include:
- A Christmas Museum so extravagantly decorated it makes the Louvre look like an afterthought.
- Town-wide debates over the importance of ringing bells, which are treated with the gravity of a Supreme Court ruling.
- Michelle’s near-superhuman ability to organize events, plan a wedding, and solve a bell-related mystery without ever spilling her cocoa.

The romance in Bells Are Ringing is sweet but mostly takes a backseat to the true star: Evergreen itself. This town is practically a character, with its endless decorations, endless Christmas festivals, and endless supply of snow that falls at just the right moment. Watching Michelle interact with the quirky townsfolk is a reminder that Evergreen is less of a place and more of a holiday fever dream where no one owns plain-colored clothing.

By the time the missing bells are found, you’ll be so caught up in the town’s over-the-top holiday spirit that it doesn’t matter why the bells were lost or why they’re ringing again now. What matters is that Evergreen’s Christmas is saved, love prevails, and Michelle gets her perfect happily-ever-after—complete with bells, naturally.

Christmas in Evergreen: Bells Are Ringing is peak Hallmark: festive, funny, and so filled with holiday magic that you’ll want to move to Evergreen immediately—if only to find out where they store all those decorations. It’s the kind of movie that pairs perfectly with cookies, cocoa, and a willingness to believe that yes, bells can save Christmas. 🎄🔔❤️