Leah's Perfect Gift
Writer: Catherine Beck and Emily Fox
Director: Peter Benson
Cast: Emily Arlook, Evan Roderick, Sidney Quesnelle, Christopher Shyer, Robyn Ross, Barry Levy, Barbara Niven
Every year, Hallmark releases dozens of holiday movies — and Pop Heist staffer Brett White has seen them all. All Heistmas long, Brett checks out what Hallmark has to offer, analyzing each movie's setting (Home for the Holidays); calling out the most heavy-handed exposition ('Twas the Night Before This Movie); praising any LOL moments (Ho Ho Ho); singling out the scene-stealer (They Brought Presence!); and deciding if the title matches the story (Exactly as Advertised). To top it all off, each movie is judged on six quintessential Hallmark qualities to determine once and for all if this Hallmark Christmas movie hits or misses the (Hall)mark. Read more Hallmark Hit-or-Miss reviews here.
Emily Arlook (Grown-ish) plays Leah, an app-developer who absolutely loves Christmas. Yes, she is Jewish and she loves celebrating Hanukkah with her family — but she's also charmed by the lights, tinsel, ribbons, red velvet, abundance of cookies, and all of the sincere cheer. That's why Leah is excited to spend the holiday season with her boyfriend Graham (Sealed with a List's Evan Roderick). Sure, she's nervous to meet his family, but she's beyond thrilled to experience Christmas up-close and personal.
And then Leah meets Graham's parents — specifically Graham's mom Barbara (Hallmark icon Barbara Niven). Barbara — never Barb — is a bit set in her ways. Okay, her ways have been chiseled out of marble and stood the test of time, like the statues of Ancient Greece. She is unstoppable, her traditions immovable. This woman divides the family Christmas tree into quadrants and makes sure every ornament leaves 4 inches of space between them for the Christmas Spirit.
I'm sorry, Leah, but it looks like your first Christmas is actually going to be Barbara's Christmas, full stop. And if Graham proposes like Leah hopes, will all of Leah's future Christmases be this micromanaged?
Home for the Holidays: Graham's family is next level when it comes to holiday traditions. Every merry minute is spoken for with holiday activities, almost all of them competitive in nature. This bewilders Leah. When she's told that winning is what makes building a gingerbread house fun, she replies, "I mean it is intrinsically fun to build houses out of cookies." Finally, a Hallmark movie calls out how ridiculous it is to turn every holiday activity into a competition!
Twas the Night Before This Movie: Love Graham's cool, queer sister Maddie (Sidney Quesnelle), but wow, does she get saddled with a clunky bit of exposition upon meeting Leah: "So I know an embarrassingly little about you because of Graham, but the internet tells me you made an app?" The app, by the way, is called Veg Fleet.
Ho Ho Ho: I did LOL at Leah mistaking "getting dressed up for dinner" as meaning "put on your gaudiest, light-up Christmas sweater" instead of "dress like a boring, suburban adult."
They Brought Presence! Honestly, 2024 might be the year of the Hallmark antagonist. We've seen some great performances from not-so-nice roles in Confessions of a Christmas Letter, Five Gold Rings, All I Need for Christmas and now Barbara Niven tops them all as Barbara. There is something deeply unsettling about Niven's performance; you almost wonder if Barbara (the character) is unwell. She's completely void of humor at Christmas and she's barely masking her anxiety. It doesn't even look like these traditions are fun for her!
Exactly as Advertised: Leah's Perfect Christmas — yeah, that fits. Leah is undoubtedly the star of the movie and this is her first Christmas, so the desire for it to be perfect (and Barbara's obsession with perfection) make that a great title. Oh — wait, no, the movie is titled Leah's Perfect Gift! I... don't... think that works as well!
This movie does pair well with Christmas with the Singhs, another culture exchange, Meet the Parents holiday rom-com that exceeded expectations. Leah's Perfect Christm — Gift. Leah's Perfect Gift exceeds expectations as well, thanks to an instantly lovable performance from Emily Arlook. You buy that she loves Christmas, you buy why she loves Christmas, and you just want to see her succeed.
The only criticism I have of this movie lies with Graham (and also Graham's sister). Why would they not give Leah the complete lowdown on their mom? They are clearly aware of How Their Mom Is! But instead of giving Leah any rules, they approach it with a "sink or swim" attitude and then forget that they have life preservers to throw. Come on, you two!
But Leah's Perfect Gift, while maybe not as ambitious as other movies this year, successfully captures a very distinct vibe — similar to how Holiday Crashers felt like Hallmark's version of "young and hip." It's not perfect, but — as Barbara learns — not everything has to be!
