Hallmark Channel
Hallmark Channel brings a little magic to the holidays with the second ‘Countdown to Christmas’ movie of 2025, A Christmas Angel Match, starring Meghan Ory and Benjamin Ayres.
Did you know that there are special angels whose sole job is to bring soul mates together during the holidays? These angels aren’t your typical cupids with bows and arrows, these angels have to actually create situations to bring the destined couple together. These are Christmas Angels, and Monica has been doing this job for well over 500 years, but she’s beginning to learn that her usual tactics — like bumping into each other at a coffee shop — aren’t working anymore because everyone is too busy scrolling on their phones. She also has an issue with upstart angel Michael, a 97-year-old newbie who is stealing her thunder by focusing on quantity rather than quality (many of his matches don’t end up staying together), winning an award Monica has been winning for years for her work in making successful matches. Monica now has a very special couple to match, Daisy and Patrick, but nothing she tries is working so head honcho Gabriel decides that Monica and Michale will work together, bucking the rule that angels work alone. Monica is not thrilled to have this roguish angel working alongside her. He barely knows the rule book and, gasp, he drinks hot chocolate! Angels do not drink hot chocolate, and his snarky comments about her archaic ploys really gets under her skin. But even Michael is having a hard time getting the not-yet-lovebirds to connect. Gabriel gives them some added pressure by alerting them that the date for the match has been moved up to December 25 (the traditionally have until December 31), giving them just two days to complete the mission. Over time, Monica begins to appreciate Michael’s methods and allows him to know why this particular mission is so important to her — she has been matching the families of Daisy and Patrick from the get go. Their entire family lineage is all thanks to her, so this one is extremely important because, apparently, if they fail with this one it’s the end of the line. The connection of Daisy and Patrick will literally save Christmas. At one point things go awry and the angels are called on the carpet by Gabriel, with Monica taking full responsibility, but after she leaves the office Michael takes the blame and turns in his wings — although Monica only hears his comment that some angels just aren’t cut out for this job and thinks he’s talking about her. But Michael wants to see how this important match plays out and Gabriel allows him to return to Earth two times. When Monica sees he’s back, will she be able to forgive him and complete the mission, or will they both learn that there has been another mission for them all along?
A Christmas Angel Match is a completely charming holiday movie with two delightful leads and a story that is both humorous and heartwarming. The script cleverly pokes fun at the stereotypical ‘meet cute’ situations we usually see in rom-coms, always teasing Daisy and Patrick’s potential connections as they then slip right out of Monica’s and Michael’s fingers. One thing that isn’t quite clear is if people can see the angels. A lot of time, everyone seems to walk by them without notice, but other times they are clearly visible such as the funny moment at the Christmas tree farm as they find themselves standing under the mistletoe. Another of Monica’s attempts at matching goes horribly wrong when she decides magical Christmas puppies will bring Patrick and Daisy together … without realizing Patrick is ‘epi-pen in his pocket- allergic to dogs. A puppy adoption stand magically appears, courtesy of angel Mirabelle, in the town square where some sort of market is taking place — and no one bats an eye. But Patrick can then see the one puppy that wandered away and has an allergic reaction (though it’s more of the severe hay fever variety than life-threatening), but Daisy does take notice of him, although not in the way Monica intended. Other attempts humorously force the angels to make themselves known as they have to pretend to have the same names as the intended couple in order to get them to participate in a holiday sing-along at a coffee bar. The resolution to the problem — with Patrick telling his adopted grandmother that he will meet who he is supposed to meet when the universe is ready — turns out to be another ‘meet cute’ moment totally by accident but it would not have happened if the angels hadn’t been working to push them together over the last few days. When the moment comes, they both realize they’ve been seeing each other all over town … and it’s pure magic. But then Gabriel lays some more surprising news on the angels that we won’t spoil but you have probably seen it coming. It’s cute and may even tug at your own heartstrings at the end.
Hallmark Channel
A Christmas Angel Match couldn’t have done any better with its two stars. Meghan Ory is perfect as the prim and proper Monica, an angel who knows what she’s doing but is a little too stubborn and set in her ways. Ory’s face just lights up when things are going her way and she seems genuinely giddy when love matches happen. She also does a nice job of standing up to Michael, and handles some of their more awkward moments brilliantly. And the hurt she feels when she thinks Michael has stabbed her in the back is clearly displayed on her face. Ory is perfectly paired with Benjamin Ayres, who can do the snarky schtick to perfection while managing to not make Michael seem like a complete tool. He conveys that Michael is a bit full of himself as he accepts his award, and he occasionally steps on Monica’s toes by criticizing her methods and unwillingness to accept times have changed. But Ayres gradually shows how Michael softens and begins to respect Monica to the point that they can finally work together, and perhaps find their own magical match that was under their noses all the time. Both actors bounce off of each other so well that you kinds of want to see them team up again for another magical matchmaking movie.
The supporting cast are all wonderful too. Lindura and Francesco Filice have their moments throughout the movie, with some of their best coming as they spend a little time with their respective grandparent. When their big moment finally comes, the look of recognition and the spark that was always meant to be there is clearly on display. Michael Dickson has fun as Gabriel, doing his best to guide his angels to do their jobs but he may also be holding something back from them. When his big reveal comes you can almost sense that through his performance, Dickson has been kind of letting us in on the secret, and it feels so rewarding when it is finally revealed. Amanda Jordan’s Mirabelle is a nice confidant to Monica, but she is quick to duck out when Monica and Michael are being summoned by Gabriel, which is funny every time. One thing that confused me about Mirabelle is that everyone else is wearing completely white outfits (or off-white and white) while she is wearing a patterned beige jacket. No reason given for why she is different than the other angels, but perhaps it’s because she’s more of a helper than a matchmaker. Linda McCurdy is a delight as Patrick’s adopted grandmother Elaine, a wise woman always trying to get Patrick to open himself up to the world, and also have a moment of support and some words of wisdom for Monica when she thinks everything is about to fall apart. S.G. Simpson is also very good a Daisy’s grandfather Nathan, also trying to get her to branch out while the story also finds him making a connection with Elaine as he prepares to move into the same retirement community. That plot line could have felt contrived in lesser hands but it all works so well thanks to the writing, direction and acting that you easily accept all of the coincidences that conspire to bring Daisy and Patrick together. Or was it all divine intervention?
A Christmas Angel Match is a simply delightful, charming, funny and heartwarming romantic holiday movie that will melt even the Scroogiest of hearts, and it may even send a message that we all need to uplug once in a while and actually look at the world around us. We may be missing all the special things that are right under our noses.
One little fun fact — in A Royal Montana Christmas a big deal was made about Victoria’s choice of a tree for Christmas, a blue spruce, and that same blue spruce issue crops up again in A Christmas Angel Match. What did the poor blue spruce do to those folks at Hallmark?!?
A Christmas Angel Match has a run time of 1 hour 23 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.
Preview – A Christmas Angel Match
Hallmark Channel