Stream It or Skip It: ‘The Christmas House’ on HallmarkBy Brett White Nov 22, 2020Hallmark history is made with The Christmas House! It’s the first Hallmark film to feature LGBTQ characters in major, leading roles—although it’s one of many 2020’s Hallmark Christmas movies to have diverse casts. The film, co-written by star Robert Buckley, boasts a cast that includes Jonathan Bennett, Treat Williams, and Sharon Lawrence. When it comes to Hallmark, this is just about as marquee as it gets—but does The Christmas House live up to expectations?
The Gist: Robert Buckley plays Mike Mitchell, the star of a TV show titled Handsome Justice. After wrapping another season of his moderately successful procedural, he learns that this Christmas is gonna be unlike any recent Christmas—because it’s gonna be like his childhood Christmases! Mike’s parents, Phyllis (Lawrence) and Bill (Williams), are giving the old Christmas House tradition one final go—which means they move literally everything out of their home and turn it into a wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling winter wonderland!
The entire Mitchell clan is called in to send the Christmas House tradition out in style, including Mike, his brother Brandon (Bennett), and Brandon’s husband Jake (Brad Harder). Also pitching in is Mike’s high school crush (and former magic partner!) Andi (Ana Ayora).
However, there’s a lot more going on with the Mitchell family than this final Christmas House extravaganza! Brandon and Jake are keeping a secret: they’re trying to adopt and don’t want to get the family’s hopes up if it falls through. Also complicating matters is the fact that Andi is a real estate agent—and Bill and Phyllis are listing the house! Not only is this the last year for the Christmas House, it’s the last Christmas in this house! But why are they selling the house, and why are Mike’s parents acting so strange? There’s more going on here—but what?!
https://decider.com/2020/11/22/the-christmas-house-hallmark-review/