Movie Review :: Hallmark Channel’s A Make or Break Holiday

Hallmark Channed

Hallmark Channel’s ‘Countdown to Christmas’ series marks the penultimate movie of the 2025 holiday season, and presents the winner of Finding Mr. Christmas in, well, not the starring role that was promised (they learned their lesson after last year’s Happy Howlidays — sorry, Ezra) but a still substantial supporting role. Did the show’s producers actually make the right choice this year?

In A Make or Break Holiday, Liv (Hunter King) and Daniel (Evan Roderick) meet at a holiday party and have an instant spark, fall in love and soon buy a house together (even though Daniel is stuck in an apartment lease and hasn’t yet fully moved in). A year after meeting, they are hosting their families for the first time this Christmas and stress is at an all-time high. When unspoken irritations within their relationship finally reach a boiling point, Liv and Daniel find themselves at odds and decide they need to take a break from each other. However, relaying this news to their families will most certainly ruin Christmas, and the families don’t make it easy for them to even break the news, so they decide to move forward with their original plans and will pretend to be a happy couple while everyone is under one roof, but they aren’t fooling everyone. As they navigate the complexities of their respective families and work together to create a holiday celebration they’ll all remember, Liv and Daniel begin to rediscover what they love about each other and may not have to pretend much longer.

A Make or Break Holiday is a unique Hallmark holiday movie in that the movie begins where they usually end, with the cute couple coming together, causing sparks to fly and sealing the deal with that expected kiss. That’s all up front, so now we get to see what comes after … and it isn’t always the happily ever after we dream those Hallmark couples will have. The biggest problem that Liv and Daniel have is communication. They are two diametrically opposed individuals. Liv is a rigid, uptight, completely scheduled, ‘I’m always right’ type, while Daniel is more loosey-goosey and forgetful (to the point that perhaps he should seek some medical treatment). He can’t follow their shared schedule and he often goes off in his own direction to make changes without consulting Liv. When it finally all comes to a head while trying to make the house perfect for the families — and to be clear, for Liv’s family — they finally unload all of their frustrations in the most unhealthy way possible, and when both blurt out that they need a break, it somehow gets twisted into a break-up. But while that is dramatic, trying to tell their families that Christmas is cancelled is comedy gold as neither family will let their children get a word in edgewise, so they are stuck pretending all is well. Writers Vanessa Marano and Danielle Morrow have done a wonderful job creating the characters of Liv and Daniel, and showing that they are the products of their parents. Liv clearly gets her scheduling traits from her dad, and her ‘I’m always right but I’ll let you think you’re right’ attitude from her mother. Daniel’s mother is more of a people pleaser and will go along with anything just to not step on toes, such as when she and Liv’s parents are getting Christmas morning breakfast treats and other desserts that have to be very specific even if she feels they are just a bit over-the-top. Dad Ed is also very, very specific about the brand of turkey they will have for dinner, and nearly has a stroke when Daniel suggests they could try something else (because he forgot to order the turkey on the date Liv specified and it won’t arrive until December 26). Then there’s the traditional family game that Ed forces Daniel into agreeing to play even though Liv warned him that they would not play because every year it goes completely off the rails. And it does, mainly because Daniel’s grandmother intentionally screws things up while reading The Night Before Christmas, which is an integral part of the game. It’s chaotic and hilarious as she gets great joy in screwing with Ed’s rigidness. Grandma is also a bit spicy as she seems to have eyes for Liv’s brother Reid. The Reid character is also nicely drawn as a guy who just wants to be there but left out of all the drama, yet he is unwittingly drawn in by Liv and Daniel’s sister, plus he’s always got to keep an eye on Grandma, who is just enjoying making him uncomfortable. Daniel’s sister Kim is not thrilled to be stuck in a bedroom with her mother (everyone had to come to the house because the pipes burst at their hotel), but she can tell something is amiss with the couple, finally breaking Daniel down to tell her why they are acting so weird. Liv also breaks down and tells Reid despite his protestations that he does not want to be dragged into their drama, and he’s dragged even further into it by Kim, who make it her/their mission to make Daniel and Liv realize that they truly do love each other. What no one knows is that Daniel had planned to propose to Liv, but the gift he hid behind the tree had to be stored in a closet because it seemed like they would go their separate ways. But Grandma finds the box on Christmas Eve when Liv’s parents agree to follow Daniel’s family tradition of opening one gift … and Grandma forces Daniel to give Liv his special gift, making it awkward for everyone when they finally have to admit they broke up and were putting on a show for them to not ruin Christmas. Can any of this be saved? And will that turkey Ed demands arrive on time?

Hallmark Channed

Marano and Morrow have written a delightful script that balances the drama and comedy, accurately depicting the stresses of holiday planning, especially where families are concerned, making things even more difficult when the families are just meeting for the first time. While the situations in the movie may be heightened for effect, there is still plenty here that anyone whose ever planned a big family get-together can relate to. All of the characters have their own personalities and the actors all do wonderful jobs bringing them to life. Director Martin Wood keeps the action moving and guides the cast through their scenes skillfully. If there is any question to be had about the story it’s the obstacle course Kim and Reid set up in the yard. No one is supposed to know Daniel and Liv are on a break, but it seems like by the time they get to the end, everyone has let them win so that they can possibly see how good they are as a team and a couple. That part just confused me a little. Other than that, the entire movie is simply delightful, not overly dramatic, with a lot of laughs and wonderful characters.

Hunter King really embodies the tightly wound Liv, that person who expects everything to be done how she wants, and when it isn’t she’ll just take charge but complain about it under her breath, or just loud enough for the other person to hear. While she may be a bit of a control freak, she clearly loves Daniel and does her best to not blow up at him. It’s certainly a toxic trait, but King manages to make Liv still a likable person because none of this would work if the audience disliked Liv because of her personality. So kudos to King for managing to balance those traits that would push most people away while still making her someone who has been informed by her own family and needs to break free from those traits and be her own person. Evan Roderick is also charming as Daniel, but his lack of urgency about anything is also a problem. He has a history of showing up at the wrong parties, can’t keep dates straight, makes changes to things without consulting his partner … I mean, it would be very frustrating for someone who likes things done a certain way but Liv’s rigidity is also a problem for him. These are two people who clearly need to learn how to communicate before they completely resent each other. Luckily, Daniel does remember important things like what Liv ordered for dinner on their first date, things that really show her that she is more important to him that what brand of turkey her father demands. So while they may not communicate well, both actors show that these characters are truly in love and their hearts ache while they attempt to navigate the break-up and their families.

Jennifer-Juniper Angeli does a nice job as Daniel’s mom, Maya. She is that complete people pleaser, she tries to go out of her way to not make waves even when she feels things are a bit out of control, like the specific chocolate treats Liv’s father demands for breakfast. She has her hands full with her mother as well, and there seems to be some issues with her daughter that are never fully fleshed out. But Angeli does also try to be a mediator when things get crazy, a calming force. She may not have the flashiest role, but Angeli makes the most of it. Linda Darlow is a hoot as Liv’s grandmother. She loves to play everyone, using her age and ‘frailty’ as a way to get what she wants. She obviously also enjoys terrorizing poor Reid, making him think she has more than just grandmotherly intentions with him, and she becomes the catalyst for making Daniel and Liv see their love for each other. Darlow gives a wonderful performance and gets a lot of laughs. Brittney Wilson is spectacular as Daniel’s sister, Kim. She is the one person in that family unafraid to say what’s on her mind, and loves the challenge of getting Daniel and Liv back together, dragging poor Reid into her scheme. Wilson does so much just with her facial expressions and body language that it’s hard to take your eyes off of her when she’s in a scene. She also works really well with ‘newcomer’ Craig Geoghan in his first major role, and perhaps her performance also helped boost his. Wilson is just fabulous.

Hallmark Channed

For Liv’s family, it’s nice to see Roark Critchlow really lighten up a bit. He usually ends up playing hard-boiled cops or hardened criminals over on Lifetime, so to have a character like Ed must be a treat. Critchlow gets to play Ed as someone who is also tightly wound and a total control freak, but he’s not so overbearing as to be unlikable. The way Critchlow shows Ed’s frustration at totally losing control of the candy passing game is very funny, and he also has a good back-and-forth with Marlee Walchuk as his wife, Tracy. For her part, Walchuk also brings a lot of humor to Tracy’s know-it-all persona, clearly showing where Liv gets it from. One of her standout moments comes as she and Critchlow corner Daniel and describe to him exactly why they need that specific turkey for Christmas (the special cranberry sauce!), so it’s either that … or nothing! Walchuk and Critchlow work perfectly together as if they really are a decades-married couple who know how to navigate the highs and lows of a relationship without needing to ‘take a break’.

A Make or Break Holiday also marks the ‘debut’ of this year’s winner of Finding Mr. Christmas, Craig Geoghan. While this is his first real major role, Geoghan does have a lengthy IMDb list of credits with roles on TV shows like Rescue: Hi-Surf, How I Met Your Father and The Terminal List. The role of Reid is not what you would call a starring role (that would be Daniel), but it is a substantial one and Geoghan manages to prove that the producers of the competition made the right choice. He delivers his dialogue naturally, he gives perfect reactions, he makes Reid’s discomfort around Grandma feel authentic, he perfectly displays that ‘please keep me out of this’ attitude even when Liv and Kim are putting him the middle of things. He does a really nice job and does not stick out as a total novice, really inhabiting the character and making him feel like a real part of that family. Of course with Geoghan in the role of Reid, fans of the competition are left wondering if that was the role created specifically for the winner of the show, because of the final three he was really the only one that could have fit naturally into the character. This has led some to speculate that the winner was already pre-determined, which is a slight to Geoghan’s talent. But it would be very difficult to picture either of the other guys playing Reid, so if either of them had won would they have been in a different movie? Hallmark needs to be a little more transparent about this. Whatever the explanation may be, Geoghan was perfect for the role of Reid, and he did a really impressive job. Hopefully Hallmark will give him more roles down the line other than a cameo in one of next year’s Christmas movies like they did with last year’s winner, Ezra, in Christmas on Duty. Oh, and a special shout-out to Jonathan Bennett for his wonderfully funny cameo.

Overall, A Make or Break Holiday was a terrific way to almost bring to a close the 2025 ‘Countdown to Christmas’ season, with its delightful story and terrific cast that balanced the drama and comedy perfectly, taking characters that could have been off-putting and making them fun to watch, perhaps finding a bit of ourselves in any one of them. This one is a pure delight.

A Make or Break Holiday has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, is rated TV-G, and is streaming on Hallmark+.

Preview – A Make or Break Holiday

Hallmark Channel

 
Listen to songs featured in A Make or Break Holiday – Sugar Cookie by Mickey Guyton and Count Your Blessings (Instead of Sheep) by Diana Krall