Stream It Or Skip It?

In Hallmark’s new holiday release Sugarplummed, Maggie Lawson plays a lawyer named Emily whose family is so busy that they have no time to get in the holiday spirit, what with work and school and teens making their TikToks. This is not the Christmas that Emily imagined for herself and so, in a very meta, self-referential way, she makes a wish that her life would be more like what she sees in the made-for-TV holiday movies she loves. Specifically, there’s this movie franchise called Sugarplum, filled with cheer and women falling in love with dashing princes on Christmas or saving the family farm on Christmas or winning the big decorating contest on Christmas, and yes, of course she’s describing every Hallmark movie we’ve ever seen. When Emily makes a magical wish, hoping her life would be just like the Sugarplum films, the star of those movies-within-this-movie (played by Janel Parrish) materializes to help her get that perfect Christmas. But is it really perfect?

Opening Shot: A TV flips around on various channels until it lands on The Harmony Home Network, which plays a commercial for the Sugarplum movie marathon, a series of holiday-themed movies. The commercial explains that the network is also holding a contest for the most festive home decor in the country.

The Gist: The fictional Harmony Home Network (a stand-in for Hallmark, obviously) puts out seasonal romances beloved by viewers everywhere. One of the most popular movie franchises on the network is the Sugarplum series, about a woman named Sugarplum (Janel Parrish) who lives in a festive small town called Perfection and often finds herself saving the local Christmas tree farm right before Christmas or falling in love with a secret prince right before Christmas. You know, all the stuff that tends to happen in these here Countdown to Christmas movies.

Emily (Maggie Wheeler) is a tightly-wound lawyer who loves Christmas but she and her family just don’t have the time to properly celebrate. Emily has created a checklist of five things she wants to do before Christmas arrives (decorate the house, buying everyone on her list the perfect gift, etc.), but year after year, she and her family drop the ball. One night, she finds an old decoration with an inscription written on it, and makes a wish that she and her family can finally come together for Christmas and make everything on that list happen. A moment later, Sugarplum, the star of the aforementioned holiday films, materializes out of thin air, a fairy godmother of sorts, to help Emily make her dream come true. But Emily lives in the real world and, well, this Sugarplum lady is clearly crazy, right?

But Sugarplum explains that, as in all movies like the ones she stars in, she can’t leave Emily until all her Christmas wishes are fulfilled and Emily gets her happy ending. Sugarplum has this rule book she carries that explains that in her universe, there’s a simple, logical path for every situation. Two grumpy singles meet and don’t get along? By the end of their story, they’re going to realize they’re perfect for each other! A mean real estate developer is threatening a small business? They’re certainly going to find a way to work that out! All of Sugarplum’s rules are hilariously specific to movies we’ve all seen, and in nearly every scene, she applies her rules and gives everyone she meets the happy ending they didn’t necessarily know they were looking for.

Emily starts to accept Sugarplum’s (who starts going by the name Sue Garplum) help and even decides to enter the Harmony Home decorating contest, but as it turns out, Sue’s methods for making Christmas magic don’t work in the real world. Cutting down random Christmas trees on the neighbor’s property and magically making it snow indoors are frowned upon, and Sue gets arrested and thrown in jail. (And, lol, when she’s booked and printed, her fingerprints are actual snowflakes.)

Even worse, Emily’s whole family basically turns on her and become resentful of Sue when it’s clear that they’ve become obsessed with “the perfect Christmas” that they feel like Emily is ignoring all of their needs. It’s only once Sue convinces Emily to embrace the fact that sometimes things have to be “perfectly imperfect” that Emily lets go of her expectations and leans into embracing the unexpected that she ends up having the holiday she’s dreamed of.

Our Take: I’m a sucker for self-referential, self-deprecating humor. Like, any time a celebrity or politician appears on SNL to make fun of their own persona or gives an interview that acknowledges their place in the zeitgeist, I make space for that. Sugarplummed is the kind of Hallmark movie I’ve always longed for, one that is a spoof of the films on the network, while also being that exact same kind of film. Here, the film blatantly acknowledges that all Hallmark movies are rooted in a completely unrealistic version of the world (comforting as it may be), and lovingly makes fun of every trope we’ve become accustomed to seeing. Take, for instance, Sugarplum’s book that she always carries, simply titled The Rules, which dictate the way life is supposed to be in her idealized world. Rule #47: “When a big city girl meets a small town bachelor over the holidays, they’re guaranteed to fall in love and get married.” Rule #63: “No high-paying job can ever match the rewards of reuniting with a high school sweetheart.” Rule #142: “Flannel is a natural aphrodisiac.” I can only begin to imagine how fun it was to write this movie and call out every tiny detail that we’re all often forced to suspend our disbelief over, and turn them into excellent punchlines.

But the film also bends those rules, acknowledging that those rules are flawed, and the film forces the characters to both acknowledge and bend them. By the end when Emily is forced to realize that, in her quest for the perfect family Christmas, she’s been so focused on tree trimming and gift shopping that she’s completely ignored her husband Ben’s work woes, her daughter’s desire to apply to music school, and her son’s social anxieties, which are all substantial subplots that she seems oblivious to. These are the things that give the film some heart and, once Emily starts to acknowledge and resolve them, the two versions on the film, the parody and the real movie’s plot, converge. Admittedly, the film becomes much more saccharine by the end because it actually starts playing by Sugarplum’s rules rather than simply winking at them, but that’s to be expected. But up until that point, this film is almost like a roast of Hallmark films, filled with gags and references that make it clear the network is in on the joke.

Parting Shot: “Hey guys, is is just me or does Sugarplum look a little familiar?” Emily’s husband Ben asks as their whole family sits down on Christmas Eve to watch a Sugarplum movie on TV. Sugarplum turns around and, looking through the TV screen, gives a wink.

Performance Worth Watching: Janel Parrish is not necessarily a parody of a a typical heroine from a holiday movie, instead, she’s acting as a chipper, flighty fairy godmother, a ditzy idealist whisked into our dimension and befuddled by its harsh realities. She plays the role perfectly.

Memorable Dialogue: “Is the town bakery in need of saving? Or do you need some romantic advice to court a holiday prince in disguise?” Sugarplum asks Emily when she wonders why she’s been magically transported to the real world.

Our Call: STREAM IT! Sugarplummed is a film built on the dichotomy of being a parody and the exact thing it’s referencing, and it does a great job toeing the line and being both. There are a million tiny details and specific references to how silly and contrived these Hallmark holiday movies are, but the film also employs many other tropes (ones that are not in its list of “rules” but which show up regularly in these films) that stick to that formula. The film manages to be the ideal watch for both the Hallmark superfan and cynics of the entire genre.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.