Santa Tell Me
Writer: Ryan Landels
Director: Ryan Landels
Cast: Erin Krakow, Daniel Lissing, Jess Brown, Benjamin Ayres, Christopher Russell, Kurt Szarka
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.
Erin Krakow (When Calls the Heart) plays Olivia, an interior designer and TV producer who's getting her first shot in front of the camera as the host of her own Christmas home renovation special. Her dreams are finally coming true — and not just her career dreams. Her childhood dream of knowing the name of her one true love also comes true via a letter from Santa Claus that got lost in her childhood home 25 years earlier. His name is, of course, Nick. And no, not St. Nick. That Nicholas is happily married!
In quick succession, Olivia has three meet-cutes with three Hallmark-hunk Nicks: Benjamin Ayres (Miracle in Bethlehem, PA), Christopher Russell (The Secret Gift of Christmas), and Countdown to Christmas newcomer Kurt Szarka. Now all she has to do is figure out which one of them is her one true love. That's quite a feat, but what else does she have going on?
Oh right — her TV hosting debut, which could lead to her own series in the new year! Making matters more stressful is reality TV producer Chris (Christmas in Love's Daniel Lissing), a last-minute addition to the production who's taken over and thrown all of Olivia's preproduction into chaos. Will Olivia find the right Nick for her before Santa snatches this golden opportunity away? Will she thwart Chris's attempts to turn her dream project into a nightmare? Can Olivia have it all?!
Home For the Holidays: Santa Tell Me is set in Seattle, although you'd only know it from the movie's opening shot. But hey — at least this is a Hallmark movie that doesn't vilify the Big City! The coastal cities can be just as cozy as Colorado, okay?
'Twas the Night Before This Movie: Olivia gives an exposition-heavy speech right off the bat: "We'll have three weeks to transform the house into a home where Santa himself would want to spend Christmas. And since I'll be hosting for the first time, in addition to my contributions behind the camera, and because our finished product will be revealed live when our one-time special airs on Christmas Eve, I am not leaving anything to chance."
They Brought Presence: I really have to give it to Kurt Szarka as Nick C., a charmingly dim bulb of a bro who is really proud of his anchor spot on the annual fireman calendar. He more than holds his own with the Hallmark pros and really deserves his leading role next year. The guy turns just blankly staring into a punchline!
Ho Ho Ho: "Trust me: talking to this guy is the conversational equivalent of gas-station sushi."
As Advertised: Of all the 2024 Countdown to Christmas movies, Santa Tell Me is in the running for the most mismatched of all. While yes, Santa does tell Olivia the name of her one true love, nothing about the title feels terribly specific. I kept forgetting what this movie was called while watching it, and I've seen plenty commercials for Santa Tell Me! There are three Nicks in this movie and we couldn't get a riff on "Jolly Old St. Nicholas" or "A Visit from St. Nicholas?"
Whatever gripes I have about the title don't detract from the overall quality of this one, though. Santa Tell Me is pretty much everything you want from a Hallmark holiday romance — times three. After years out of the holiday movie game, Erin Krakow immediately reasserts herself as one of Hallmark's finest. Her physical comedy, timing, and overall type-A energy makes her a perfect lead. The three Nicks all play their parts extraordinarily well, to the point that you could see standalone versions of each of their romances with Krakow. And Lissing, himself returning to Hallmark after a bit of a break, makes Chris appropriately adversarial before giving us a classic Hallmark bait-and-switch (SPOILER: Chris is actually a nice guy!).
But I really want to commend writer-director Ryan Landels. I'm not going to fact-check myself, but I'm pretty sure it's incredibly rare for a Hallmark movie to have a writer-director behind the wheel. Landels absolutely makes the case for this behind-the-scenes arrangement, though, as Santa Tell Me is filled with physical gags that could have—likely would have—been lost in translation from page to screen had it not all come from the same brain. There is a real vision to Santa Tell Me, which belies the middle-of-the-road title. There's a warmth to the cinematography, and the movie evokes the best of Hallmark's mid-'10s era, where plucky leading ladies were dropped in lightly fantastical situations and just had to roll with it. It's a welcome blast from the recent past.
