This was such a lovely Christmas movie: a warm and engaging story with a beautiful holiday message, some wonderful and endearing performances, and just the right amount of Christmas spirit and festive cheer. Hands down, one of the best this year thus far. The story follows Vanessa (played by Aimee Teegarden) who, after receiving her family tree DNA test results, sets out to meet her biological father (Richard, played by James Tupper). She soon finds herself traveling to her new family's home for Christmas, meeting Kris (played by Andrew Walker), a friend of her new family, along the way. The DNA match storyline is the second, I believe, for Hallmark. The first was 'Love, Lights, Hanukkah!' which premiered last year (another good holiday movie). The script is well written. The writer does a great job of capturing this welcoming and lovely family as they meet and spend time with Vanessa. As a viewer, it was easy to connect and engage with the story, with the characters. I might have even shed a tear or two. Though the story has some minor flaws, as other reviewers have pointed out, this takes nothing away from the viewing experience, I felt, which was simply delightful. What makes this all work on screen, of course, is the acting. Overall, the performances were brilliant, especially Teegarden's. She had this warm and gentle vibe to her performance that was easy to connect with on-screen. Indeed, it made the family's welcoming nature much more believable and relatable. Tupper too had a very convincing performance as Vanessa's father. What about our Hallmark favorite, Walker? He too was impressive. His supporting nature seemed effortless. There was this natural eases between Kris and Vanessa, which made me immediately start rooting for them. Given the nature of the story, the chemistry between the two was just about right. The supporting cast is also noteworthy as they all brought something to the table in this one. All in all, it is a warm and heartfelt Christmas movie with some remarkable acting, a wonderful new addition to Hallmark's 2021 lineup. I highly recommend it.
