On the seventh day of Romancemas, we’re being blessed with a surprisingly good Hallmark Christmas movie.
When I was building the list for Romancemas, I wanted at least one Hallmark movie. After all, they release what feels like dozens of Christmas romance movies every year. They’ve made it an entire business! I had two criteria in choosing a movie though: It had to be easily accessible on streaming and it had to be good. Thus enter A Biltmore Christmas, available through the end of the year on Netflix.
Can I start by saying something controversial yet brave? THIS MOVIE IS GOOD. So surprisingly good, in fact, that I literally yelled “Why is this so good?!” at the screen several times while watching it. But I know why it’s this is so good, so let’s get into it.
A Biltmore Christmas is about a screenwriter working on the remake of a fictional classic 1947 Christmas movie, His Merry Wife! She wants to change the ending to be more grim and “realistic,” but the studio head his having none of that. He sends her to the real Biltmore Estate in North Carolina where the original movie was filmed to see if she can get inspired for her ending.
As luck would have it, when she tips an hourglass prop from the movie, she’s transported back to 1947 to the set of the original film. That’s right, this is a time travel movie! Lucy cruises the set meeting the real actors and, wouldn’t you know it, falling in love with the handsome lead.
Here’s what makes this movie so good: While the story, acting, and dialog are all much better than you would normally get with a Hallmark movie, it’s the casting that makes this one next level. The quality of the main romantic pair can make or break a rom com, and luckily the choice here is stellar. Bethany Joy Lenz provides the right mix of pithy sarcasm and childlike wonder you’d need if you were transported back in time.
The real star of the show is the man who played Jack Huston, Kristoffer Polaha. He’s so convincing as a 1940s man. He’s got the voice and the facial expressions–when he’s on screen you feel transported back in time. It was so easy to believe that he was really Jack Huston, the loveable and friendly actor. And if I was Lucy in this fictional universe, I’d want to go back in time to fall in love with him, too.
If you could only ever watch just one Hallmark Christmas movie, let it be A Biltmore Christmas. The 91% Popcornmeter rating it has Rotten Tomatoes is well-earned. It’s always nice to be pleasantly surprised.
