Mystic Christmas (2023 TV Movie) User Reviews

Low-key but enjoyable

[mbyrd624 · 7/10 · 13 November 2023]

I enjoyed watching this one, even though I had read the reviews before diving in. Jessy Schram and Chandler Massey are both decent actors, have good chemistry, and I was drawn-in by the tour of Mystic, CT.

The story is lacking, to be sure, but the leads and the scenery make this one an enjoyable watch. The seal isn't the star, but does steal a scene or two. The "made-up Canadian proverb" should become a new trope of this genre.

There is a recent trend where these Christmas movies have basically no stakes. The characters start off liking each other, have very little competition for each others attention or affection, and we are left with kind of a waiting game until they finally get together. It works in this film because the real roadblock is their own awkwardness.

The "big argument" here felt like a missed opportunity to bring the characters together through some heightened emotions, and showing that conflict doesn't always have to be a scary or uncomfortable experience.

All in all, I'd recommend this one. It kept me watching, so it has something going for it.

Rather average Christmas offering, IMO.

[presidial · 7/10 · 29 October 2023]

The thing I liked about this Christmas themed movie was the location filming, from the Mystic Aquarium, to the drawbridge over the Mystic River, parts of the Christmas boat parade, the pizza shop, the book store, Mystic Seaport, and the bakery. Makes me want to visit there.

The script had a familiar theme: former romantic partners from years past reunite in a serendipitous circumstance, the character played by Jessy Schram is asked to come to Mystic to fill in temporarily at the aquarium, caring for a sick seal. The supporting cast did a convincing job. My biggest criticism was the lack of chemistry between Schram and the male lead, Chandler Massey. Their romantic connection seemed forced and contrived. I was thinking another Hallmark actor may have been a better match for Schram; possibly Sam Page, or Brendan Penny.

Okay for the first half, then just boring

[mamachikn · 5/10 · 5 November 2023]

It started out okay, I liked the initial banter and the leads are cute together. The secondary gay romance wasn't interesting.

Jessie's haircut was unflattering, IMO.

The seal was cute, though, and the best part of the movie. But it wasn't enough to remain interesting.

I didn't finish the movie.

I still have 300 more characters, so I'll say that this movie is easy to forget and I don't remember what I saw even now.

It takes place supposedly in Mystic Seaport, Connecticut.

Jessie's character is cute but odd, socially challenged.

The seal's name is Peppermint.

There are some Christmas activities I don't remember.

Met the quota. Done.

Another good movie from Hallmark

[JeffOggie · 5 November 2023]

As a guy I don't understand why some people don't like this picture.

If you are a fan of the Hallmark movies this should be right up your alley.

They all have the same story line. Guy meets girl, something happens and eventually they end up happily together. Only difference is the time of year.

This happens to be around Christmas time so it has that kind of stuff going on but it's not a Christmas movie say like Where are you Christmas or even Die Hard was lol It is in the other hand a good advertisement for Mystic CT because it showcased some of the best parts of the town and if you didn't notice it's a great little village well worth visiting.

So as far as another Hallmark movie that my wife always seems to have on tv I really enjoyed watching this one and would watch it again.

Hallmark Christmas

[SnoopyStyle · 6/10 · 19 November 2023]

Marine biologist Dr. Juniper Jones (Jessy Schram) is a self-declared introvert who likes to travel around the world by herself. Her best friend Candice Adams (Patti Murin) needs her help back home. The only problem is that Candice's brother Sawyer Adams (Chandler Massey) is there. She claims that she declared her love to him in a school crush email. There is a dispute over the facts.

Jessy Schram is always adorable. She does try to be awkward for this role although she could try harder. The comedy is right there for the taking. She needs to be more klutzy for the physical humor. She does do fine with the verbal vomit sometimes. She's a little too put together. Otherwise, I love her as always and the guy is a good match. That's all one could ask for in a Hallmark Christmas movie. It's certainly not drama.

Missing / incomplete information

[pmshah1946 · 7/10 · 30 October 2023]

I enjoyed the movie as a decent "time pass". I liked Jessy Schram in the role of Juniper who I know from her role of Dr. Hanna Asher in Chicago Med. However I can't figure out who creates the page on this site. I see Shravan Amin being credited in the cast list when he appeared for may be 3 - 4 seconds and said a word of 2. While Brooke, I believe that was the name of the character, who had a fairly decent role and was involved a whole lot more is not mentioned anywhere. Not even in the extended list of "Full Cast and Crew.".

I liked the premise of some missed past connections and history without making a mess of it.

Not great

[mblake-62426 · 6/10 · 17 November 2023]

Great actors, but didn't love this movie. Can't place my finger on why. Not sure if it's because the actors weren't the best for these roles or they didn't have good chemistry or what. I couldn't really relate to the characters, and I'm an introvert. I feel like these characters were messed up enough that there should have been more backstory to explain their quirkiness.

The main actor kind of gives a creepy vibe at times.

Confusing story.

I don't know if it was the storyline or the acting or what but the whole thing was just not very believable. It just seems to have a lot of holes or something.

A major disappointment

[SleeplessinDenver · 3/10 · 20 November 2023]

Having seen and enjoyed Jessy Schram in several other Hallmark movies, I was looking forward to this. However, I just couldn't get into this one at all. Her character wasn't particularly bad, but pretty much everyone in every scene talks so fast and frantically that virtual no interactions seemed natural. That was done by basically the whole cast which makes me think that the director told everybody to read their lines really fast. I assume that was supposed to make them all seem really quirky, but again, it just led to almost every interaction feel very unnatural.

Also, the two romantic leads in this acted particularly uncomfortable around each other to the extent it felt like both were back in 6th grade when placed together.

There was also one montage in a bookstore that was supposed to be funny and cute but was really painful to watch.

Ultimately Jessy Schram was just passable in this and everyone else was basically a drag on this film. She has done much better in previous Hallmark films.

I'll Come Right Out and Say It...

[wayfind · 10/10 · 3 November 2023]

I loved this movie from the first bit of dialogue. First of all I must say KUDOS to the writer(s). The dialogue absolutely sparkled. I'm truly surprised by the number of people who didn't enjoy this movie.

Maybe I have it wrong, but from the get-go I saw this love story as that of a young woman named Juniper with Asperger's tendencies and a young man who was somewhat avoidant and perhaps had a touch of ADHD. Yes, their interactions were awkward, because they are two very socially awkward people! To me, the dialogue and characters were utterly charming.

(Just as an example of why I made that "diagnosis" about Jessie Schram's character, when her best friend takes her into the backyard where she is to stay in the guest house, her immediate conclusion is that she's being put in the backyard and should get a tent!! (As if her lifelong best friend, after saying "Stay at my place" would put her out in the backyard!) This is exactly the kind of misinterpretation of a situation that someone with Asperger's would make. Also, this is someone who is clearly accomplished and science-based, more comfortable with seals than with people, unable to be certain that she can carry on a "normal" conversation without saying something very awkward - such as the reference to the sand dollar as a "dead body" when speaking to a child - and is obviously very uncomfortable with a "group hug." )

After all, ten years before she had sent Sawyer what many people would see as a very over-the-top romantic message after they had spent some time together...so - not a sufficient filter to fit into social norms! I loved seeing their defenses fall gradually, until the point that they actually got into an argument because they finally opened up enough to be honest about their frustrations.

Some folks are saying the actors "speed talk" or talk in an unnatural way otherwise, but I'll tell you that - although I don't speak that way myself, at least I dont' think so :-) - I've been around quite a few intellectual, "nerdy," quirky people like the characters in this movie, and that's EXACTLY how they talk!! (People who are socially anxious talk fast out of nervousness, for one thing.)

I enjoyed the characters Brooke, Louise (played by a very likeable child actress,) Candice the sister/best friend. The actors playing the interns and everyone else in this movie did an excellent job. Needless to say, the performances of Chandler Massey and Jessie Schram were beautiful to see.

To me, it seemed that their two characters were made for each other. In many Hallmark movies, I often feel you could switch out the actors and actresses for any others in Hallmark's "stable of stars" and the change wouldn't even be noticeable. Not so, this time. These characters were unique, and the actors owned them.

Finally, I have no interest in marine biology, personally, but when the seal who is at the center of the action for Juniper is healed and released, heading across the sand and reaching the sea, even I felt a sense of triumph, and a thrill at the beauty of life in that scene.

To top it all off, this movie is a great "tour" of historic Mystic, CT - a place that has fascinated me since I was a teen 55 years ago, and that I finally visited in my twenties. A highly entertaining movie.

Not very mystic, but definitely Christmas.

[adamjohns-42575 · 7/10 · 22 January 2024]

Mystic Christmas (2023) -

Chandler Massey was incredibly cute, but in his role of Sawyer he was a bit too good to be true and a tad gay seeming. I felt that, if I was ever brave enough, I could approach him to chat him up, without barking up the wrong tree or being dismissed for it, although he didn't seem THAT desperate. But he was definitely a likeable character that I wanted to find real happiness.

Jessy Schram played her part of Juniper well and I wanted her to succeed in love too and in her work at the sea life centre.

I enjoyed the inclusion of the aquarium as something different from the usual Christmas films, especially as Peppermint The Seal (Cork) was almost as adorable as Chandler Massey.

I wasn't sure that I believed in the seals drastic and incredibly convenient improvement however.

I did like that it didn't detract from the Christmas element of the story as it quite often has with this type of films, where they have forgotten that it's supposed to be about the season and got carried away with Trees, Horses or Real Estate.

I also enjoyed the fact that the romance was blossoming right from the start, with Sawyer and Juniper (Jessy Schram) already crushing on each other from their meeting at his sister's wedding.

I thought that the sister, Candice (Patti Murin) was good casting too.

I wasn't sure about Peter though, he was played far too over enthusiastically by Eric Freeman, who was a sweetie and pretty to boot, but turned up to 11. To start with I assumed that he was there to be an alternative love interest for Juniper, which was probably because he appeared to have been directed to be very similar to Sawyer.

I did like the LGBTQ+ inclusion as well. The romantic connection between Eric (Ralph Adriel Johnson) and Nick (Nick Jordan) was not over the top or so obviously thrown for the sake of diversity.

It was all very perfect, sweet and idealistic, but after some of the terrible films I've seen this year, it was actually nice for this one to be so joyous and happy.

It was disappointing that once again the traveller had to settle down, rather than the settled one agreeing to travel though.

They participated in various Christmas activities and made a connection that was cute until they inevitably fell out about something silly, but it was certainly one of the best of this year's release.

If I had cast this one I might have put Chandler Massey as Juniper and Nick Jordan/Eric Freeman as Sawyer with Jessy Schram as Candice or chose other alternatives to work with Jessy.

I really liked this one though.

7.26/10.

tone it down !

[montgomerysue · 3/10 · 29 October 2023]

This is a perfect example of a Hallmark Christmas movie that just totally misses the mark. It doesn't happen very often, but this is one that you can miss.

First of all, the entire cast seems like they are on speed or something !! They all talk real fast and frantically - like every scene is a major event or crisis - even though nothing that happens in this story is major, critical, or ever interesting. After about 45 minutes of the cast's overbearing and uncalled for hysteria over nothing - you kind of feel like you could have a nervous breakdown if you see and hear one more scene with them talking so fast and frantically.

Maybe it's not the actors' fault. Maybe the director realized that the script was lifeless and boring, so she told the performers to say their lines real fast and with a lot of urgency in order to beef up the drivel that was written. But, the director, Marlo Hunter, has very little experience, so maybe it's not totally the writers' fault.

Who knows ? In any event, it's all a boring mess.

The ad for this film gives the impression that there are a lot of aquatic scenes, but you find much of that here.

Skip this one, Lil.

Gilmore Girls anyone?

[MickyG333 · 8/10 · 16 November 2023]

7.5 stars.

First impression after several minutes of puns, quick witted dry humor, and pithy remarks much too clever for normal humans...this was written by a 'Gilmore Girls' writer. So now I'm looking to see if these writers or director did in fact have any association with Gilmore. And the answer is: nope. To bed with that theory. So if you've seen Gilmore, think of the banter they share back and forth and back and forth ad nauseum and then swap Rory with a shy and hesitant seal loving blond named Juniper (Schram) and trade Lorelai or Melissa McCarthy's character with Juniper's best friend Candice, and then switch one of the more interesting and loquacious men of Gilmore (not Ventimiglia's character who was way too gloomy) with our lead male Sawyer, and that's 'Mystic Christmas' in a nutshell. Come to think of it, now on this soapbox, there were no men in 'Gilmore Girls' with any notable redeeming qualities. I digress.

This will hold your attention mostly, although there are a few slow parts. The leads share a very skittish romance to say the least. They are both frightened of the concept of following through with love or commitment. Question: did the email get sent or not? You will find out, but it's a bit underplayed in my opinion. I liked 'Mystic Christmas', I hope they make a sequel, finger's crossed.

Not for me.

[SABarber-352-123136 · 1/10 · 29 October 2023]

Wanted to like this movie because of the location in Mystic, but the star of the movie is the seal Peppermint. The dialog & story are awful, not a Christmas keeper. Would give it a zero if I could.

The actress is talented but the story line bombs. Lots of scenes in Mystic Village, the Seaport, Awuarium and downtown Mystic, but not enough to save this movie. Mostly they are blurred in the background. It's not a Christmas story, just a story set around the Christmas holiday. Same old career choices, really, is there nothing fresh and new to write about? We don't usually write reviews, but people need to know.

I wouldn't recommend

[kaf-95279 · 3/10 · 19 November 2023]

I was looking forward to watching this one because I watched one with Jessie Schram last year & really enjoyed it. This one.....not so much. I couldn't even make it til the end.

The first thing was that I didn't feel any chemistry between the two leads. I wasn't rooting for them to get together at all. I didn't even want them to kiss. Bad casting.

I was so checked out I couldn't even tell you about the plot. I eventually just turned it off because it didn't keep my attention.

I watch a ton of Hallmark movies and I like most of them, but this one is at the bottom of the list.

To each his own though.

A LITTLE DIFFERENT

[ukoutlaw-92465 · 8/10 · 20 November 2023]

I'm not quite sure why "Mystic Christmas" isn't rated more highly.

I had no illusions going in. I expected another standard Hallmark Christmas rom-com, but I was very pleasantly surprised! This one is a little different.

The main character Juniper Jones (Jessy Schram) is an introvert. We're not talking "a little shy" like some of Hallmark's blushing maidens. We're talking full-on avoidance of human interaction whenever possible. Finally! A character I can relate to!

The writing includes some very rapid-fire, very funny dialogue. I often had to back up my recording to make sure I heard what I thought I did: "How come everyone had a better time at my wedding than I did?!?" "Because you had a terrible date." "Oooh!" "Sorry." At this point, I knew I was onto a winner!

If you have a sense of humor, give "Mystic Christmas" a shot. It had me laughing out loud in less than 5 minutes!

Too awkward

[heatherbauer-01117 · 3/10 · 3 November 2023]

I like Jesse Schram and wanted to like this. The seals were fun to see. I've watched a million of these formulaic Hallmark romances. First time I've ever said this - These people do not belong together like at all. It's a bad romance overall. They fight the entire story and few interactionsthat aren't fighting are incredibly awkward. The awkward encounters made me actually uncomfortable and give a bad name to introverts overall. The fast talking didn't bother me as it did to some people. However, with that many words uttered in one movie, shouldn't it have said more?? Been better??

Skip this one.

Jessy Schram

[Jackbv123 · 9/10 · 29 October 2023]

Jessy Schram has at times been at the very top of my favorite actresses list. The leaders often drop down if I don't see them in anything for a while. This movie brought her back to the top for now.

This movie was made for Schram. She gets to use her many talents in acting, romance and comedy. Her comedy isn't one dimensional. She has screen presence. She uses a lot of physical comedy with body language and gestures, facial expressions, and great timing. There were a couple of cases where she and others were delivering lines simultaneously and the timing had to be perfect. And she has great energy.

Schram's timing with Chandler Massey was excellent. There was an obvious comfort level. Their characters had obvious affection.

The story? Who cares. I was enjoying the characters. The story was good enough but followed obvious lines. There was some quirkiness. Some of the Christmas activities were out of the ordinary. No snow ball fights. The ending had a little twist.

All in all a great Christmas movie and I even laughed.

BTW pet peeve. I hate when you can't read text messages. Maybe if you have great eyes. Hallmark don't you know you have a significant audience of Senior citizens many of whom don't have great eyesight? This movie is the worst I can remember for unreadable phone and computer screens.

Repeat cycle/boring

[brian_spence_ni · 4/10 · 31 October 2023]

The first 40 minutes felt like it just kept on repeating the same thing. I've never seen that before. Acting was okay enough and the main leads were not bad either. The character of Brook was just semi-pointless; I'm still not sure who would have written such a vapid character.

It was christmassy though and there was an awkward chemistry between the two leads. I do wish the story had been a bit better written and sloppy though I appreciate it cannot be easy to craft fully realised characters and storylines. I'd say with this one, watch it after eggnog, xmas cheer and when you're ready to laugh off a few inconsistencies.

I really enjoyed it!

[melissayoungman-31205 · 9/10 · 7 November 2023]

Socially awkward people deserve love, too.

I'm not a psychologist, and we probably shouldn't get into "diagnosing" possible disorders, but we get right away the Juniper is at the very least cripplingly shy, maybe more. She's brilliant and has made a great career, and is a wanderer, who has no interest in settling down.

She did at one point fall for someone, her roommate Charlotte's brother. Sawyer. This happened years ago at Charlotte's wedding. As someone socially awkward might do, she wrote him about how deep her feelings were ... but he never wrote back.

Sawyer thinks he wrote back, telling Juniper he felt the same, but he never heard from her so he thinks she ghosted him. Sawyer may be more than a little ADHD, and it's rather a surprise that he has a fairly successful business. He's a nice guy, very helpful, but the only time he ever travelled something really bad happened, and now he always has excuses for staying put.

So things are awkward when Juniper comes to Mystic to temp for Charlotte, made more awkward by the main characters' respective social tendencies. Of course its a set up of the story that they have to spend this time together (that's what HCMs do!), but it all feels very real. I know these people. They are not the slick, social butterflies who shouldn't have a problem finding friends and love. They come together naturally, learning some things about themselves and each other, and I was very happy how it played out. Nice side story about Juniper connecting with Charlotte's probably ASD (although not stated) daughter.

Third time's a charm

[mbiv777 · 5/10 · 8 December 2023]

I say that because the first two times I tried to watch this movie, I literally fell asleep. Seriously. Twice. That's never happened before.

So let's see how many thumbs down I can get: I have always liked Jessie Schram. She's very talented. I just didn't happen to like her in this. I think it was the dialogue. Trying to hard to be cute. Not her fault.

I didn't find her chemistry with her co-star that compelling either.

Earlier this year, I had complimented Hallmark on dialing back the agenda. I hadn't seen this yet. The secondary romantic relationship was a homosexual one, and they were very in your face about it. This is not something I care to watch.

I did like some things: I grew up in a town with Christmas boat parades, and they're a lot of fun. Also, the ambitious pizza parlor employee was very well done.

I would not, however, recommend this movie on its merits, and I will not watch it again.

Great Movie

[lindy-00795 · 9/10 · 30 October 2023]

Jessy Schram plays a scientist who works with seals who is asked to come to Mystic, Connecticut to assist with a seal named Peppermint in the Mystic Aquarium and rehabilitation center. While there she runs into an ex, played by Chandler Massey, who owns the pizza shop. This was inevitable given that his sister, played by Patti Murin, is in charge of the Aquarium and is Jessy's friend.

The leads have a great chemistry together, amid multiple misunderstandings between them and it takes the sister and the students in the Aquarium to set the pair straight. I.e: "Did you tell him why you couldn't meet him?" "No." "Did you ask her why she couldn't meet you?" "No."

Among the actors was Patty Murin, who was on Broadway as Anna in Frozen. She has a lovely voice. Also, William Moses, who was in the Perry Mason episodes in the 80's and 90's. Fun fact: Jessy Schram and Patti Murin have both been on Chicago Med.

My primary beef with this movies is Jessy's straight hair, cut in a bob. This look does nothing for her since her face is long and thin and the straight hair just makes her face look longer. Aren't there any stylists at Hallmark? We either get this clinical straight bob or we get the wrinkly bob (hairstyle where hair is slightly wavy with ends straight. Which to me looks awful (Erin Krakow's hair in movie with Tyler Hynes). I'd like to see Chandler Massey without the beard and mustache. I know that people think facial hair is all the rage, but really, women don't care to be kissed by hair that stabs you in the face. Think about it, people!!!

Fine but hypocritical

[jkrizm6760 · 5/10 · 29 November 2023]

Overall, I thought the storyline was fine. It was very slightly different from the usual hallmark set ups.

It was nice that the leads had social anxiety, though I don't always know that it was played true. For example, would a socially anxious person willingly draw attention to themselves at a costume-optional event by coming in costume?

I also thought the mother was contributing to her problems. If a daughter calls looking for advice, I don't think it's healthy that the only advice that is offered is to not give up what you want for another person (I'm paraphrasing here, but that was the gist.). Sometimes what someone wants is that other person and deciding to want that doesn't always mean they're giving up everything. Her situation, as she points out, is not just about a guy. It's about her friends, her interns, and the offer of a great job doing what she loved and her mother should have heard all of those pieces before giving her any advice. I thought her father's advice was much healthier - figure out what it is that your gut/heart is telling you. What I liked about this storyline, however, is that it differed from the usual storyline of girl goes to some town, meets guy, falls in love in 5 days, and decides to give up a successful career in the city to stay with small town man not knowing whether they're compatible, where she'd live, or what she'd do for a living. That is a toxic message, the one in this movie wasn't.

Lastly, the thing that bothered me the most is that a big message of the movie is that seals shouldn't be kept in captivity and that humans ruin everything for seals but the movie delivered this message by using multiple captive seals that had been highly trained to do tricks for human enjoyment.

Endearing and adorable.

[rdubz-23518 · 8/10 · 25 December 2023]

I loved that this was filmed on location in Mystic; it made it all the more charming!

This movie was really good. Two thumbs up for awkward adult representation! Both Junie and Sawyer were so relatable to me, and watching them stumble along back in love was so heartwarming. The dual storyline with Peppermint the seal was really cute too. Jessy Schram is in her own way a Hallmark vet, and definitely an underrated one; Chandler Masssey portrayed Sawyer to perfection as well, and this was my first Hallmark movie of his, so I was definitely surprised in a good way!

I honestly went into this not expecting much, but I just can't get over how much this made me smile. Even the third act separation wasn't ridiculous, or really even a separation at all, but more so a reckoning of each of their insecurities and things that were hard to hear, but they needed to.

The ending with both Juniper deciding to stay in Mystic and Sawyer traveling was so perfect, and I like too that they'll be traveling together! I really can't even think of anything that I disliked. Hallmark, you've done it again :)