A Magical Christmas Village (2022 Hallmark)

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Synopsis (via Hallmark)

When Summer’s mother, Vivian, moves in with her and her young daughter, Chloe, her orderly existence is upended. Upon arrival, Vivian sets up an heirloom miniature Christmas village resembling their town and tells Chloe it grants Christmas wishes. As Chloe begins setting up the figurines, real-life events seem to mimic the scenes she creates. With a little help from the magic of the Christmas village, the family will be brought closer together and, just maybe, Summer will learn to open her heart to love again.

Recap/Wine Thoughts

The movie starts with about 3 mins of panning shots over a Christmas Villiage

Alison Sweeney is a real estate agent because she wears a well-fitted blazer/pant combo. Her eccentric Mother sold the family home on a whim, and she has no place to live, so she moves in with Alison Sweeney.

The house is already full because tween daughter Chloe is taking up space. Chloe is thrilled when her grandmother moves in, and they start unpacking the Christmas village, and Alison Sweeney is concerned about the countertop.

Alison Sweeney’s Mother is the exact opposite of her, and they bicker constantly. The Mother can’t help but dispense mothery advice, which boils down to “chill the F out and find a man.” Alison Sweeney tells her that she has a full life with a daughter and a beautiful home/a a fulfilling job. She has what she deserves.

Luke Macfarlane (Gay icon playing a straight divorcee here) shows up at the work site and bumps into Alison Sweeney. He is looking for the toy drive, but ends up asking her out on a date.

The date goes well; the following day, Luke Macfarlane is interrogated by April. They introduce one another to their families awkwardly. Then they go ice skating.

At this point, I finally realized that the Christmas village is magic, as the movie title suggests. Chloe is playing with two figurines on the ice, and when they fall, so do our leads! It’s like a voodoo doll, but CHRISTMAS! (Chloe realizes it too at this time, so I didn’t feel too dumb.)

Alison Sweeney and Luke Macfarlane collect toys for the toy drive. He tells her that she is overcommitted. He is right because Alison Sweeny and her sister begin looking into their Mother’s financials (AKA boxes of paper.) and tries to sort things out like she has done since she was 17.

The sisters try to talk to their Mother, but it doesn’t go well. The Mother tells Alison Sweeney that she never asked to be her keeper. Then she visions boards and meditates because nothing is set at any age.

Luck Mcfarlane gets a job out of town and tells Alison Sweeney on a date. He is sad to leave town but perks up when he realizes that the hippy woman he has been talking to the whole movie is Alison Sweeney’s mom!

Chloe continues to play with the Christmas Village, and honestly, she is a little too old to be spending all this time playing. Does she not have homework or an iPhone? When Chloe sees Luke Mcfarlane dressed up in the town village, she realizes what she has done. (Forced a relationship with voodoo magic.)

The Mother, who I’ve learned is named Vivian, gets the house of her dreams and inspires Alison Sweeney to get the man of her dreams. She dresses up and joins Luke Mcfarlane on stage and tells him that she has feelings for him in front of everyone. It is weird timing since it is a toy drive and everything.

They kiss instead of giving toys to kids in need. Everyone takes pictures of them making out, which is weird AF. The end.

Side Note

Alison Sweeny’s coats in this movie were A+

This movie was not for me; I was not into pairing and didn’t find this romantic in any way.

Minority Report: April’s husband, Claudia, Kelly,