Hallmark Channel
After a disastrous voyage down (or up) the Amazon, Hallmark’s ‘Winter Escape’ takes us halfway around the world to the island nation of Malta with a romantic adventure that would be right at home on the Hallmark Mystery channel.
Caught by Love — not the bes title, by the way — stars Rachel Leigh Cook as Annie, a young woman who works in the financial world (although she may just be a bank teller) who has found herself gifted a week-long trip to a fabulous wellness resort, Monarch, by her boss, Joanna (Ruby Kammer) who is unable to attend. Annie is an obvious fish out of water, not even traveling with her own luggage (Joanna let Annie take hers since it was all so last minute so it’s a good thing they’re the same size). Stumbling into the lobby on a pair of stiletto heels she’s unaccustomed to, Annie literally falls into the arms of roguishly handsome Jake (Luke Macfarlane), who takes notice of the mystery novel she’s reading and the JM monogram on her luggage. What Annie doesn’t know is that Jake is a private investigator who has a tip that a priceless necklace and earrings stolen from a museum are going to be sold to someone at the resort, and he has a week to figure out who it is. Thinking Annie is Joanna, Jake’s other suspects are a man named Colin (Emrhys Cooper), who always seems to be on his phone making some kind of deal, married couple Carolyn (Suzanne Debney) and Peter (Fernando Corral), hoping to rekindle their romance at the resort, where they met, if Carolyn can get Peter off of his phone, social media influencer Kimberly (Nichola Manners), who is spending the first few days alone while waiting for her delayed boyfriend to arrive, Rebecca (Denise Capezza), a mysterious woman of royal lineage, and George (Russell Barnett), an even more mysterious man who keeps himself separate from the other guests and never attends any of the daily events on the agenda. Everyone can plainly see that Annie and Jake are interested in each other, and they finally do have dinner together and find that they do click. But when Annie discovers Jake ‘breaking in’ to Carolyn and Peter’s room, which is right next to hers, she is shocked to think that he’s a thief. Jake has to come clean about why he’s there — and then Annie realizes the resort attendant Lara is also working with Jake, which explains the lack of towels in her room — but they have to vacate the room before Carolyn returns … which she is about to do. Luckily all they have to do is hop over the wall to the adjoining patio just as Carolyn enters the room and makes her way to her patio, noticing Jake and Annie getting to know each other. Of which she approves.
Learning about the jewels in question, Annie convinces Jake — and Lara — that she can be a valuable asset to their investigation, and proves as much by getting George to actually speak to her like they are old friends. Impressed, they agree to let Annie help, but she cannot put herself in any dangerous situations … which she promptly does when she overhears Colin talking about making a purchase and follows him because she can’t get in touch with Jake (who is tied up, literally, in an aerial yoga class … something Annie also did not excel in). Following Colin to a yacht, she tries to call Jake again, but Colin overhears her. Uh oh. Jake manages to locate them but the yacht has just pulled away from the dock so Jake dives into the water and attempts to catch up. Tiring, a lifesaver is tossed to him, and while on the yacht he learns what Annie already knows — the yacht itself was the purchase, so cross Colin off the list. Peter is also a bit shady, so Jake and Annie join the couple for a double date, and while taking a picture of them with Peter’s phone, Jake manages to scroll through Peter’s texts and finds a location and time for a meeting, which must be for the stolen jewels. Surprisingly, Carolyn is the one who shows up at the fountain where they expected Peter but there is another surprise for them all when Peter does arrive. But are either of them buying stolen jewels? Kimberly still isn’t in the clear because she seems to be behaving oddly every time she gets a text, and then she runs off during a party. The mysterious Rebecca seems to always be watching resort owner Robert, but would she need to buy stolen jewelry? And just who exactly is George and why is he completely isolating himself from everyone else? And when Joanna finally does show up, that only raises more questions. Could it be her? The answers may come as a surprise as the story manages to really keep you on your toes.
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Credit for that goes to writer Marcy Holland (A Biltmore Christmas), who did a similarly wonderful job with 2024’s A Christmas Quest. She really knows her way around a mystery, creating a dynamic group of suspects in the best Agatha Christie style, making each of them just shady enough for it to be plausible for them to be the suspect, but never making any of them appear so obvious that you know 30 minutes into the movie who it is. (I changed my mind several times, and talked myself out of who I really thought it was with some ‘it couldn’t be’ reasoning.) In addition to the mystery and caper aspect of the story, Holland has given us a really believable romantic connection between Annie and Jake. Both characters know they have an instant spark, but both are also conflicted because Jake is there on a job and they both have to go back to their lives when the week is over. But neither of them can deny their chemistry until Annie puts herself in danger, which forces Jake to push her away, not because he wants to but because he wants her to be safe. Annie, however, feels rejection and tries to ignore Jake on their last night at the resort, but their connection is inevitable. It all just works because it feels so natural. Holland’s screenplay has humor, drama, adventure, romance and characters who are all entertaining in their own right. If I had any say in it, I’d get Holland to work ASAP on a new Mystery Island script with Jake and Annie visiting as guests, getting involved in a new mystery with the staff. Hallmark, make that happen! The movie is also skillfully directed by Kevin Fair, who keeps the story rolling, never leaning into implausibilities, never allowing any one of the actors to do any winking at the camera to signal their true character. It’s a great job, but I do have one question — when Annie finds Jake at the pool at night, he asks if she wants to join him and she says she does. She’s wearing a black and white outfit, but in the next shot she is in a completely different ensemble so … did she go through all the trouble to run back to her room and change when all she was going to do was sit on the edge of the pool (and the first outfit was more suitable for such an activity)?
Of course, a great script can be ruined by bad casting, but luckily that is not the case here. Rachel Leigh Cook is an absolute delight as Annie. She has a knack for both comedy and drama, and when she looks at Macfarlane those sparks are clearly apparent. She makes Annie’s initial awkwardness feel authentic, and her excitement about being part of the investigation just makes her light up. Luke Macfarlane is perfect as Jake, strong, confident, great at his job, but also a man with a heart who knows he should not get involved with Annie, but the heart wants what it wants. Even when Lara tells Jake that it’s not professional behavior, even she has to relent as she can see how he truly feels about Annie — and that is a tribute to Macfarlane’s performance. Even when Jake is angry about Annie putting herself in danger, Macfarlane lets us see that his anger is fueled by his feelings for her. It’s not that she did what she did, it’s that he could have lost her if things went south. These two just have some great chemistry, and they really make us want to see them in more fun adventures together (like on Mystery Island!).
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The rest of the supporting cast are also excellent. Amanda Vilanova has quite a fun role in Lara. She’s trying to keep the investigation on track while Jake gets distracted with Annie, but she’s not at the resort as a guest so she is constantly being pulled away to ‘work’ by major domo Reid (a delightful Jake Alun), notably being thrust into an herbal wellness class because her resumé says she has a degree and the usual instructor is out on maternity leave (a detail that becomes important later on). She flounders hilariously, leaving the class mostly puzzled, but Vilanova just does a great job at splitting her duties between the resort and Jake. Suzanne Debney is just lovely as Carolyn, becoming a sort of mother figure to Annie, but also making us have empathy for her as it seems she may have lost her romance with Peter, and we just want her to be happy. Fernando Corral doesn’t have a lot to do as Peter, but he does manage to give the feeling that he’s subtly pushing Carolyn away until the big surprise at the fountain reveals the truth about them both. Emrhys Cooper brings a lot of energy to Colin, always speaking on the phone in an animated fashion, and making us wonder when he spots Annie snooping on the dock if his greeting to her is sinister or not. Nichola Manners also has a small part to play as Kimberly, but she works well with Cook in their scenes together, and she keeps us guessing as to if she is involved with the jewels plot. Denise Capezza brings a nice mysteriousness to Rebecca, the one real enigma of the group, making us wonder why she’s always watching Robert, while giving the character just the right bit of haughtiness during a rock climbing exercise (‘I don’t touch rocks’). Russell Barnett also has a small role to play as George, using body language to show him connecting with Annie in the distance while Jake and Lara watch, but also throwing a real tantrum when Reid keeps trying to get him to stick to his agenda. It all adds up to a surprising reveal that actually makes sense. Rupert Hill is also very good as Robert, a role in which he could have turned the wellness guru into a sinister cult-like leader but he does appear to genuinely believe in his health regimen and wants to share it with everyone at the resort.
After the previous ‘Winter Escape’, Love on the Amazon, Caught by Love is an absolute delight with a cracking mystery, an outstanding supporting cast of players, and two leads whose chemistry just lights up the screen. The story is fun, exciting and romantic, nothing ever feeling forced, making it a complete joy to watch.
Caught by Love has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, is rated TV-G, and is streaming on Hallmark+.
Preview | Caught by Love
Hallmark Channel