Christmas on Repeat (2022 Hulu)
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Cast: Jennifer Taylor, Gary Poux, Julia Terranova, Matthew Lawrence
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Synopsis (via Hulu)
A workaholic gets stuck in a time loop repeating Christmas Day over and over as she tries to reconnect with her family, while also trying to appease her boss’ demands.
Recap/Wine Thoughts
Andrea spends a lot of time at work in marketing, maybe? (Like she sleeps on her couch in the office.) Matthew Lawerence (or Nick) asks Andrea to work on a shoot for an influencer named Layla on Christmas Morning. Andrea reluctantly agrees, she calls her husband, John, on her way home, and he is disappointed but not surprised.
A Santa outside the grocery store tells Andrea to wish on a shooting star that night because a Christmas wish on a shooting star is magic. Then Andrea heads home to her family. Her teenage kids, Lexi and Matt, bet on whether or not Andrea would work on Christmas. They also love TikTok. (How many TikTok references are we going to get this year?)
Everyone in the family goes to bed. The following day Andrea is awakened by kids playing basketball outside. She goes downstairs and sees her family for a second before having to go to work. Layla is not doing well for the commercial shoot when Andrea can’t solve the issues everyone stresses and argues. All because Layla can’t get the product name right. On her way home, Andrea gets pulled over by the police. Andrea comes home, collapses on the couch, and John helps her feel better.
Grandma Millie comes over for Christmas dinner and presents (which are a disappointment.) Before bed, Andrea gets a call from Nick to be at work the next morning for reshoots. Before Andrea goes to bed, she sees the Christmas shooting star.
Andrea wakes up the following day, and she is late for work. Andrea rushes off and starts to notice things are feeling familiar. When she can quote something, the director says it at the same time as him, it hits her. Andrea faints and understands Christmas is repeating!
When Andrea is pulled over by the hunk cop again, she is no more prepared and is totally speeding again. Andrea comes home, tells John what is happening, and thinks she might be depressed.
Andrea wakes up the next morning and is annoyed that the day is starting over again. She rushes to the grocery store to ask Santa what is up. He tells her that he doesn’t know what is happening. Andrea tries to just get the day over with this time.
Now prepared for the day, Andrea decides to conquer the day, but she doesn’t manage to get anything right and repeatedly repeats, trying to learn from her mistakes. The repetition is not helping, and eventually, Andrea becomes understandably discouraged. Her family worries about her when she skips work to build a snowman. No consequences for your actions.
Andrea notices Matt looking at the boys playing basketball and is upset to learn that he didn’t make the basketball team. She apologizes for being absent and asks him to open up to her and tell her what is going on in his life because she cares. Matt and Andrea play basketball together. When Andrea spends quality time with her family, she realizes that Lexi follows Layla on TikTok and sees that Layla is a natural on her social media channels. At the end of the day, Andrea spends time with her mom, and they come to a long-needed understanding.
After spending all night practicing making pancakes, Andrea nails a beautiful plate of pancakes. Then she takes Matt and Lexi with her for the day. Andrea tells Matt the play basketball with the boys after making a free throw shot. At work, Andrea has Lexi show the director the video of Layla being natural on camera. Lexi talks to Layla and learns that she is overwhelmed. The relationship Lexi does works, and Layla nails the commercial. Lexi and Andrea show Layla the TikTok dance, and they all join in on it together. Andrea even smooths things over with the cop, who doesn’t give her a ticket for speeding this time after some gingerbread bribery.
Andrea goes shopping for new gifts and talks with Matthew Lawrence about treating his in-laws with love but setting clear boundaries. Santa sees her on the way out and checks in on how things are going.
At Christmas dinner, Andrea sets up her mother with a grumpy neighbor and gets everyone the perfect gift. John and Andrea have a conversation, but it doesn’t go as well as the other nights. He asks for a separation because Andrea works too much. Andrea cries to her mother, who tells her daughter to put her family first and that the rest will fall into place.
Andrea decides that she needs one more do-over, and she can fix everything. When she wakes up the next morning, Andrea is disappointed that time has moved on. John tells Andrea that he is set on the separation. That wasn’t her Christmas wish!
It is back to the grocery store to have a conversation with Santa. Santa tells her that he is pretty much off the clock. Then Andrea gets a call from Matthew Lawrence that she is going to be on the new campaign. Andrea hangs up on him.
Sad part of the movie happens here, and by that, I mean sad music plays, and the camera zooms in on Andrea’s face while she pictures her kids getting the news of the separation.
Andrea circles back to the house and is pulled over for making an illegal turn. She breaks down to the hot cop and tells him she is going to lose her family. He gives her a ticket anyway.
John is mid-speech when Andrea bursts in and tells her kids that she lost sight of what matters and she wants to prioritize the family. The monologue is well acted by always reliable Lifetime leading lady Jennifer Taylor. John forgives Andrea, and she puts her money where her mouth is and tells Matthew Lawerence she is taking a vacation.
A Christmas Ornament Santa winks at Andrea at the end. So that is cute!
Side Note
Directed by Lifetime legend Lindsay Hartley.
This premise is so tired, and I would love to see someone shake it up.
Minority Report: John, Matt, Director Paul, Layla,
Nice low-key adoption story here. Really helps to normalize adoption and shows a positive depiction of a stepdad coming into the picture.
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Christmas Trees represent the Christmas vibes. *** I’ve updated the rating system. Wine is overall enjoyment (NOT a value judgment) on a 1-5 scale.
I will use the following tags for those who want to know if they should watch or skip: Pour it Up (Would Recommend) or Put A Cork In It (Would Not Recommend).
Overall rating
Christmas Feels
ššš (3 Christmas Trees)
Enjoyment Level: š·š·š· (3 glasses of wine.)
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*Photo Credit: Ā© 2022 Hulu
Live tweet along with @LifetimeUncork using the hashtag #ChristmasonRepeat #HuluHoliday
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