BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS

Name: BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS
Item: BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS
Author: Review

"Is This Christmas Too Good To Be True?"

Content: +3 Some minor questionable elements. (Media-wisdom is suggested to discuss.)

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

Credits →

What You Need To Know:

BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS is a Christmas romance on the Hallmark Channel. Beatrice is a former foster child with few good memories of Christmas. She accompanies best friend Emilia on a trip to the small town of Christmasland, a place that promises to deliver the “holiday movie experience.” Beatrice starts to warm to the idea of Christmas. However, she begins to question the truth behind her experiences in Christmasland. She also questions her growing feelings for Christmasland-native Ethan, who’s showing her the town. The situation comes to a crossroads when Ethan’s ex-girlfriend appears.

BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS is a fun, engaging movie. It has an interesting plot that pokes fun at the typical cliches of Christmas romance movies. Lead actors Meghan Ory and John Reardon give enjoyable performances. BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS has a strong Christian, moral worldview. It stresses spending time with loved ones and celebrating Christmas together. Christmas carols like “Go Tell It On The Mountain” are sung, and there’s a subplot about an angel statue. BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS ends when one character discusses having faith in God, “the unseen hand that guides us.”

Content:

(CC, BB, L, M):
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:
String Christian, moral stresses spending time with loved ones, supporting friends, every character encourages the female lead to celebrate Christmas and love it like they do, two women speak glowingly of their lifelong friendship and the faith they have in each other, some Christmas carols are sung including “Go Tell It on the Mountain, a man apologizes for a deception but is forgiven, and female lead tells people to have faith in God, “the unseen hand that guides us”;
Foul Language:
One light profanity;
Violence:
No violence;
Sex:
No sex;
Nudity:
No nudity;
Alcohol Use:
No alcohol use;
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:
No smoking or drugs; and,
Miscellaneous Immorality:
The ending reveals that many of the townspeople, including Ethan, were lying and deceiving Beatrice and Emilia in an effort to make sure they had the perfect Christmas experience in their town, but Ethan apologizes for the deception and is forgiven.

More Detail:

BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS follows Beatrice, a journalist with lukewarm feelings about Christmas. After her friend convinces her to join her on a trip to a small town called Christmasland, Beatrice meets Ethan, who shows her the good parts of Christmas. However, in this picture-perfect town, nothing is as it seems, and Beatrice starts to wonder where fact ends and fiction begins.

Beatrice isn’t a huge fan of Christmas. As a child who grew up in the foster system, she doesn’t have the traditions and memories her best friend Emilia does. When Emilia wins a trip to Christmasland, Massachusetts, Beatrice reluctantly tags along, ready to make fun of the “holiday movie experience” the pair were promised.

Christmasland is everything the friends expected, from snowball fights, eggnog tastings, and holiday cookie bake-offs. Beatrice starts to warm to the idea of Christmas, aided by her time spent with Ethan, a Christmasland-native who’s showing her the town.

However, Beatrice and Emilia, who’s being courted by her own holiday romance hero, Porter, are hesitant to fully accept their fun holiday trip at face value. They remember the contest they won promised them an experience out of a Christmas movie.

Things come to a head when Ethan’s ex-girlfriend appears, and Beatrice finally confronts him about the act of make-believe the entire town is putting on for the tourists. Adding to her hurt is the fact that she’s been open and vulnerable with Ethan about her past.

Beatrice needs a Christmas miracle.

BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS is a fun, engaging movie. It has an interesting, meta plot that pokes fun at the typical storylines in Christmas movies. Lead actors Meghan Ory and John Reardon give excellent performances as well.

Also, BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS has a strong Christian, moral worldview. It stresses that being with loved ones at Christmas is more important than the holiday activities shown in many Christmas movies. Christmas carols like “Go Tell It On The Mountain” are sung, and there’s a subplot about an angel statue. BELIEVE IN CHRISTMAS ends with one character talking about having faith in God, “the unseen hand that guides us.” It’s implied that some characters are lying throughout the movie. However, the deception was mean to enhance the female lead and her friend’s experience at a resort town with a Christmas team. Also, all the characters come clean by the end and are forgiven.