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In 2023, Hallmark produced a decades spanning holiday film titled Christmas on Cherry Lane. Set in three different decades, the film focuses on couples living in a house on the titular street, Number 7 Cherry Lane to be exact. The 1973 portion of the film reunited Good Witch stars Catherine Bell and James Denton as an older couple planning to marry and move to Florida, leaving their grown children beside themselves at the thought of someone else owning their childhood home, fearing to lose the memories they had built with their late father. The 1999 segment featured Erin Cahill and John Brotherton as a couple who have just moved into the house and are expecting a baby in two weeks. But they get a surprise arrival when Lizzie’s entire family shows up to spend Christmas in a house that hasn’t even been unpacked yet, spoiling the one last holiday the couple would have alone. The 2023 segment features Jonathan Bennett and Vincent Rodriguez III as a couple planning a Christmas Eve dinner for their friends … except the kitchen is being renovated and the contractor doesn’t seem to be able to meet the deadline … and the couple also have been surprised with the impending arrival of a foster child they’d been hoping for with everything throwing their day and their lives into chaos. What is clever about this film is that you eventually begin to see that these stories are all connected in some way with characters from one decade touching characters in the one that follows. There is one constant though, the neighbor Daisy, whose parents live on Cherry Lane, becoming friends with each and every resident of Number 7. The film was clever in its craft and carried a lot of emotion and is well worth a look.
In 2024, Hallmark’s new streaming service Hallmark+ is rolling out not one, not two, but three new ‘Cherry Lane’ movies heading into Christmas starting with Season’s Greetings from Cherry Lane. As with the first movie, this one also tells three stories, but revisits the lives of Mike and Zian (Bennett and Rodriguez, respectively) as they prepare for Christmas 2024, each with a special surprise gift for the other. Zian is recreating a memory from Mike’s teen years with his father, at a time when Mike was in a sort of rebellious phase, not really paying attention to his father’s enjoyment of the neighborhood Christmas decorations. Mike is going to surprise Zian with the arrival of his grandfather from the Philippines, whom Zian didn’t know existed as he was also a foster child (his parent immigrated to the US, but died when he was four, with no other family in the country to take care of him). The only problem is … Mike may have lost Zian’s grandfather at the airport.
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The earliest segment of the movie takes place in 1951 and features Corey Cott as Charlie, a doctor about to serve in a M*A*S*H unit in Korea, and his wife Joan (Annabelle Franklin), who has just fractured her arm and now Charlie won’t let her do a thing around the house, including cooking the Christmas Eve dinner or decorating the Christmas tree. He is a bit overbearing but he wants this Christmas to be special since he’ll be away for almost a year. Luckily they have some good neighbors, Julian and Amelia (Jordan Buhat and Rryla McIntosh), to help out and that includes a promise to send Joan a Christmas card that Charlie has pre-written every week for the next fifty-two weeks … if Charlie can think of something to write in each card before he has to leave. The 2003 segment features Sarah Dugdale and Shannon Kook as Sarah and Luke, a young couple who have never had a disagreement, but the arrival of both their parents for the holiday may put their idyllic life to the test when it comes to everything from a window decoration to turkey or ham for dinner. And, yes, Daisy is here but only in the 2003 and 2024 segments, although her parents are the connection in 1951. But do these stories connect as masterfully as they did in the first movie?
Barely. When Zian’s grandfather finally arrives at the house, there is a throwaway line about a doctor named Charlie who saved his life (although he doesn’t say how or where unless he was serving in the military in Korea). Other than that the 2003 segment seems pretty self-contained, while the 2024 segment brings back Mike and Zian’s contractor Quinn (Robert Moloney), who is now a good friend … but keeps pressing them to consider an addition to the house (and perhaps there will be one if grandpa ends up staying in the US).
Christmas on Cherry Lane was an utterly charming film that slowly revealed all of its interlocking plotlines. It had a nice visual quality and some really good acting. Season’s Greetings from Cherry Lane felt like a low-budget TV movie right from the start, and some of the performances were very ‘community theatre’ but the actors did eventually settle into their roles and things felt more natural as it moved along. The new movie doesn’t hit the same emotional beats as the original either, with the bickering families in 2003 just a bit much, especially the fighting over the wreath and dinner, setting a very poor example for their kids on how not to compromise. The parents were just a bit ridiculous, even when it turns out they are the ones who need to learn a lesson.
The best acting in the movie comes from Bennett and Rodriguez, but they have the benefit of having played their characters already. Shannon Kook is also very good and natural as Luke in 2003, while Sarah Dugdale starts off a bit like a deer in headlights with her dialog and wide, almost terrified eyes. But she does ease into the role of Sarah nicely. Corey Cott and Annabelle Borke play their characters a bit too much like they’re in a 1950s melodrama, so they feel more like they’re acting than trying to be real people. The performances are more like stereotypes of characters we’ve seen in classic movies.
The story does flow better as the movie plays out, but it’s a shame the only real connection any of these character has is the house and Daisy. Of course it might have been too out there to suggest everyone who lives at 7 Cherry Lane are somehow connected, whether they know it or not, but if that’s the premise this whole series of films was built on, they should have continued. But with two more movies on the way, maybe there will be a big payoff in the end. For now, Christmas on Cherry Lane is highly recommended, while Season’s Greetings from Cherry Lane is mildly entertaining, starting off a bit shakey but finding its feet as it goes along.
Season’s Greetings from Cherry Lane has a run time of 1 hour 24 minutes, and is rated TV-G. The film is streaming on Hallmark+.
Sneak Peek – Season’s Greeting from Cherry Lane
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