Review

Movie Review: Deliver by Christmas
Subtitle: “When Love, Cookies, and Mysterious Phone Calls Collide.”

Deliver by Christmas is Hallmark’s sweet and slightly ridiculous ode to holiday matchmaking, where the true spirit of Christmas isn’t just about love—it’s about a perfectly timed bakery delivery. It’s a cozy rom-com filled with cookie dough, mysterious strangers, and a small town that looks like a holiday Pinterest board come to life.

The story centers on Molly (Alvina August), a cheerful baker who spends her days creating mouthwatering Christmas treats and wondering why her love life is as empty as a cookie jar on Christmas Eve. Enter Josh (Eion Bailey), a single dad new to town, who’s juggling life, work, and his adorable son, Charlie, while secretly becoming Molly’s biggest cookie customer. Through a series of (very conveniently) dropped phone calls, Molly and Josh form a bond without realizing they’re also crossing paths in real life. Yes, it’s a you’ve-got-baked-goods kind of story.

Alvina August’s Molly is charmingly relatable, with just the right amount of festive overachiever energy. She juggles running a bakery, delivering cookies, and solving her customers’ life problems like it’s all in a day’s work. Eion Bailey’s Josh is your typical Hallmark dad: kind, slightly frazzled, and capable of falling for someone over cookies faster than you can say “sugar rush.” Together, their chemistry is undeniable, even if they’re hilariously clueless about their true identities for most of the movie.

The plot takes full advantage of its small-town setting, with holiday festivals, tree lightings, and the kind of coincidences that only exist in Hallmark Land. Josh somehow manages to order cookies from Molly without ever seeing her in person, while Molly’s deliveries keep bringing her closer to Josh without either of them catching on. It’s frustratingly adorable—and also slightly baffling, given that there are about five people in this town.

Key moments include:
- Molly delivering a literal mountain of cookies to Josh’s house, which raises the question: Does this guy eat anything else?
- Josh’s son, Charlie, being the movie’s unofficial matchmaker by casually mentioning how much his dad likes the mysterious “cookie lady.”
- A Christmas festival where Molly and Josh finally start putting the pieces together, just in time for snow to fall at the exact right moment.

The supporting cast includes Molly’s best friend, who spends most of the movie dropping painfully obvious hints that Josh might be The One, and a bunch of cookie-obsessed townsfolk who treat Molly’s bakery like it’s the centerpiece of the holiday season. Honestly, if this movie doesn’t make you crave a dozen gingerbread men, nothing will.

The grand finale is pure Hallmark magic: Molly and Josh finally connect the dots, share a heartfelt confession, and—surprise!—seal their budding romance with a kiss surrounded by Christmas lights and a conveniently placed mistletoe. It’s predictable, yes, but also irresistibly sweet.

Deliver by Christmas is a sugar-coated holiday treat that’s as light and fluffy as one of Molly’s famous cookies. It’s perfect for anyone who believes in holiday miracles, baked goods as a love language, and the idea that you can fall in love without ever exchanging last names. Watch it with a plate of cookies and a healthy dose of holiday spirit—you’ll need both. 🎄🍪❤️