A Dance in the Snow
Writers: Emily Schmitt and Ryan Smith
Director: Stefan Scaini
Cast: Erica Cerra, Mark Ghanimé, Vanessa Burghardt, Dorian Giordano, Emma Elle Paterson, Julianna Paul, Nadine Whiteman
Erica Cerra (Mystery on Mistletoe Lane) plays Melanie, a single mom who runs a nonprofit focused on empowering neurodiverse teens. Melanie's daughter Jenny (Cha Cha Real Smooth's Vanessa Burghardt) is herself autistic, with two of her triggers being loud music and falling snow. None of this deters Jenny from living the life of a high school student who loves literature and hanging out with her friends. She's also gung ho about getting all dressed up and going to her school's annual Christmas Ball —until some surprise falling "snow" turns the dance floor into a nightmare for Jenny.
Fast forward a year and now Jenny's a senior, one who really wants to study literature at a college all the way in California. This doesn't sit well with Melanie, whose seasonal depression is flaring up again. The cure for those "Winter Blues," as Melanie calls them — and only Melanie, the movie posits — has always been the Christmas Ball. But after last year's incident, Jenny is firmly anti dance — and that breaks Melanie's heart. What will Melanie and Jenny do?
Well ... Melanie joins the PTA in an attempt to make the Christmas Ball accepting to all. And Jenny? Jenny wants to give her mom some holiday cheer, so she and her friends come up with a plan to throw their own dance, one for all the kids who don't feel comfortable at the Christmas Ball. Looks like we got a large-scale Gift of the Magi situation, except with high school dances.
Home for the Holidays: The high school is named Cherrywood High, which implies that the town is named Cherrywood too. If so, there are four Cherrywoods in America: New Jersey, Tennessee, Maryland, and Georgia. It has to be a state that gets annual snowfall, which due to climate change is... well, pretty rare! LOL UGH — anyway, the town also has to have quasi-small town vibes and with all that in mind, and because no one in this movie feels New Jersey-y, I'm saying this takes place in Cherrywood, Maryland.
None of this has anything to do with A Dance in the Snow. Why am I wasting your time?
Twas the Night Before This Movie: After hearing about Jenny's college plans, Vicki tells her friend and colleague Melanie, "Maybe she just wants to spread her wings. You know, try something new. Isn't that why you started The Possible Center? To show neurodiverse teens the breadth of their possibilities?" Melanie responds: "Thanks Vicki. I have read our mission statement — I think I wrote it!"
Ho Ho Ho: "Oh — and for tomorrow, please read the chapter on Edgar Allen Poe or you shall receive good grades nevermore!" Jenny's lit teacher Daniel (Mark Ghanimé) is really making a case for Teacher Jokes to be the new Dad Jokes.
They Brought Presence! Okay, what do we have to do to get Mark Ghanimé in more Hallmark holiday movies? The man is adorable, like a cross between Jake Johnson and Zach Braff. He's the kind of "oh this is actually the kind of hot man I could encounter in my life" handsome that keeps you fully engaged with the movie, instead of taking you out. I'm sorry, Our Holiday Story, but no kinda goofy single dads look like Warren Christie.
Exactly as Advertised: What I actually love about the title A Dance in the Snow is how absolutely bland it sounds at first, but as the movie's plot unfolds it starts to take on deeper and deeper meaning. It's like if Hallmark named a movie Up on the Housetop, and it ended up being about — I don't know, a family powering through the grief of losing their father, who fell off the roof. That's a terrible example. But this is a movie about two dances and how Jenny's past traumatic experience with snowfall affects her ability to choose her own path in life. It's a good title!
And wow, this is a good movie! Hallmark Mystery movies always aim to surprise, but this year that's resulted in an intense drama and a so-so mystery. I've been waiting for HM to hit a home run and, well, here it is. What makes A Dance in the Snow so great is how it treats its characters. Hallmark movies go deep, but they don't go this deep. They don't usually give us [counts in head] four fully-realized character arcs, ones that dovetail with each other so gracefully. The script it sewn up, too, with so many plot threads laid down that you don't even notice until they're pulled taut.
The relationships, though — those are what really make the movie sing. Erica Cerra and Vanessa Burghardt have fantastic chemistry together, and are absolutely believable as mother and daughter. I even appreciated that the movie wasn't afraid of making Melanie seem a little selfish, too! Like, her "winter blues" do not outweigh her daughter's anxiety triggers! There's a lot to unpack in this relationship, and the movie does that with care.
Even the secret dueling dance planning remains what it should be: an interesting and festive avenue for the movie to explore Melanie and Jenny's relationship. It could be more of a plot point and it could be played for more laughs, but it's not. The movie doesn't sacrifice sincerity for silliness, while it never crosses the line into maudlin. This is the Hallmark Mystery movie sweet spot.
