Holly Star (2018) User Reviews

Bent little film that will resonate with 30-somethings

[JaynaB · 6/10 · 17 December 2019]

...especially those whose first adult dreams have failed them.

Returning home as an adult is never easy. When you're a dedicated puppeteer whose last job has dried up, leaving you broke and alone, where else do you go? Then you find out your parents have left town for the holidays, making you responsible for your crazy grandma. The catastrophes pile on from there, abetted by a nutty best friend with a paintball fixation and a childhood sweetheart determined to save you from yourself.

There's a mystery, touches of personal history, some broad physical humour, and the usual triumph of seasonal joy to round off this surprisingly twisty script. The puppet sequences add a surreal quality.

Enjoy with a beverage.

Really strange

[rachelaemmons · 5/10 · 23 November 2021]

It actually started well. I enjoyed the first hour, then it took a nose dive and then, just ended. It's hard to explain.

The love interest angle was really forced. They kissed when they were five, so that means they have to fall in love later in life? The entire movie minus maybe ten minutes at the end, the main girl just saw him as a childhood friend. Then she chokes on a peppermint and she's in love! And what about the puppets? The treasure? The car? Her parents? Anything?!?!?!? Sigh, what a weird movie.

Haven't fully watched this yet but......

[openhearts-95925 · 6/10 · 20 November 2019]

So before or during the time I watch something I like knowing who the actors are. This movie I found out the lead actress is named Katlyn. In this movie she plays a girl named Sloan. Funny thing is my name is Katlyn Sloan. I found it funny. So far loving the movie.

Terrible.

[rainjelly · 1/10 · 20 December 2020]

The movie was bad, but the ending is the worst. I'm sad I wasted this time and I love a bad Christmas movie!

I don't understand the ending - help!

[Kimberlyep · 7/10 · 18 November 2019]

I'm a sucker for a Holiday movie and this fit the bill. I liked the quirky characters that weren't always so perfect. I just don't understand the ending. Was there a buried bag? Where?

Slow

[duku65 · 4/10 · 12 November 2021]

The previews intrigued me enough to give it a try but this movie is so slow and I would pull the plug on it but my wondeeful wife wants to see how it ends.

Netflix Christmas movies most times come up woefully short.

Mixed Feelings

[contactlens · 6/10 · 22 November 2020]

Entertaining, but too much misuse of God's name to be classified as a family oriented film.

I can't even believe I finished this movie...

[vampchic2 · 1/10 · 11 November 2019]

This movie was terrible. It clearly had a budget of a fast food dinner and the little interludes with the marionettes were creepy. The doll faces were just so off putting. I'm not sure why they had to use them instead of real people playing the roles of the kids and Santa, maybe lack of that budget I already mentioned, but they were not cute at all. The acting is ridiculous. I'm not even sure it is acting. The lead girl is just goofy in a way that's not even endearing and the rest of the cast doesn't help things either. It's just a waste of time and the money they spent making it and I'm shocked Netflix even cared enough to stream it. Almost makes all of those cheesy Hallmark and Lifetime movies look like big budget films.

Absolute Garbage

[calebcalebwhitney · 1/10 · 2 December 2021]

The lead actress is good looking and her acting is fine but that's worth about one star. The story is nonsensical and the setting is a horribly depressing locale. The writing and the delivery is extremely annoying. To add insult to injury, we get all these clues about the buried money but the film just drops that story line towards the end and she never finds the money... so a major element of the plot is just forgotten. WTF? Worst than anything though the movie is boring. Skip this one. I feel like I took one for the team, folks. Not holding it against you of course, because it was my decision, but still.

A different Holiday movie.

[colorsourcexyz · 8/10 · 29 November 2019]

Heads up ... this is not your typical Hallmark/Lifetime movie with near perfect main characters and a predictable plot! What it is ...is a really funny movie filled with quick witted dialog and a main character that can be quite the goofball at times. I laughed out loud throughout the whole movie. Great Maine scenery and a good supporting cast 👌

Love a good movie filmed in Maine.

[riograndechic · 4/10 · 6 November 2019]

Love that it was filmed in Saco and Biddeford. Kerryman Pub! I want to know where they filmed the paintball scene.

Disappointing and Unfocused

[nbovard · 1/10 · 17 December 2019]

This could have been a fun, quirky movie if it had been sure of what type of story it was trying to tell. It tries to be part romance, part comedy, part drama, and part mystery, and consequently the plot "wanders." The puppets feel "inserted" for their own sake, instead of being a plot point. The main character's best friend comes off as annoying in the scene where she's trying to wake the main character, when she could have been fun and encouraging. I liked was the grandmother. The rest of the characters are "painted on" the backdrop instead of being put to real use, and there are dropped plot threads. This film could have benefited from a thorough script edit to deliver a more focused plot.

An hour and a 1/2 of my life I'll never get back

[debb-34918 · 3/10 · 13 November 2020]

She's a puppeteer? Really?? Lamest part of the movie. And her friend Kay K was so annoying I wanted to punch her. I am doing them a favor giving them 3 stars.

Um... what?

[natjohnson-72414 · 1/10 · 25 December 2021]

This may be the worst movie I've ever seen. The characters were so unlikeable and the plot was really lacking. In what universe is it "quirky" and "fun" to try to kill yourself so you can have more puppet dreams??

5 stars for the puppets

[linda-plant2 · 5/10 · 19 December 2019]

30 minutes in and the lead actress wore me out, and irritated me with her continual whining and grrrrrrrring ! not her fault granted, but the scriptwriters who wrote this confusing story.

Im in the uk, so am confused about the location. The characters appear to have deep southern accents, they are knee deep in snow, and we get shots of a coastline.

Not the greatest Christmas film, but at least there are sub-titles !!

Quirky, Well-Acted, Sweet Movie

[courtneyfosterwilson · 9/10 · 15 November 2019]

For someone who's been watching a lot of Hallmark movies this was a breath of fresh air. The characters are interesting and funny. Not sure if the script is tolerable or if the actors are just good enough to cover it. It's well-edited so that the story is cohesive. The puppet elements make it quirky and playful. Now it's not perfect and there are some overly cheesy moments. But, the characters felt so real and like someone your could know.

Watch this when you're drunk or need a good laugh

[randomreviews · 4/10 · 7 December 2021]

Roommates and I put this on during finals week and even though my expectations weren't high, somehow I was still disappointed. The main lead wasn't very likable and the ending was so, so bad. Talk about such a major let down. I think I get what they were going for but still! It was such a waste of time!

The only reason I'm giving it four stars is because we all agreed the grandma character was fun, we liked the best friend and we spent most of the movie crafting a conspiracy theory that Sloan's grandfather was secretly Santa. But really, this movie is so dumb. If you're really needing a Netflix holiday special to have on in the background, watch Dash and Lily instead.

Great until the end- light spoilers

[momblu · 3/10 · 6 December 2021]

I really liked this movie and was going to rewatch it with my family, UNTIL it got to the end. It's certainly not high budget and not likely to win awards, but does break the mold as far as Christmas movies go. However, the whole time they build up this great story, and then it's like the end just completely forgot it. You're left like "well?!?!?"

Meh....

[KGTigress827 · 1/10 · 16 November 2020]

Annoying lead character & bff is almost as annoying....grandma, the puppets & the "commanding officer" were more interesting...🙄🙄🙄

What the??? Spoilers...

[joanetteterry · 2/10 · 12 December 2021]

Okay I get the "in-the-Christmas" spirited at the end of the movie. However, the ending ticked me off. I swear I don't want to watch anymore Christmas movies after this movie😂

Nothing can save this film

[stephenmatlock · 1/10 · 24 December 2021]

Avoid this completely.

We generally will watch anything for fun as we are relaxing by the fire after a busy day in the Christmas season.

This film had promise. The initial setup seemed like a good start. A puppeteer in NYC fails at a must-make-it job and then returns to her parents' home in Maine, convinced she is finished in life.

A "quirky" cast of characters intersect with her life, especially when she has a flash of insight about a mysterious past even when she narrowly escapes death.

But the clews in her premonition aren't enough to solve the mystery, so she tries to recover her past through hypnosis and then by repeating the near-death experience.

Then, near the end of the movie, she has a flash of insight and finds the real meaning of the dream/premonition because -

Ope. The movie just ends.

Yikes.

We watched this with another couple and all of us shouted our dismay at this terrible, manipulative ending. NOTHING THAT HAPPENED IN THE FILM MATTERED.

The protagonist "learned something special." Everything else was just a set of MacGuffins.

The puppeteer aspect? DID NOT NEED TO BE A PART OF THIS AT ALL.

The near-broken down car? What?

The "Chekov's gun" in the first scenes? (The walkie talkie.) Not used to advance the plot in any way that mattered.

The love interest? More like the love skim and turn away. Not a single spark between them.

Nothing made sense with regards to plot or pacing or character development or anything that makes a movie something that is more than 90 minutes of colorful lights on the screen.

I do not fault the actors. They played their roles well, but their roles/characters were limited by the script, and as usual with these Christmas movies, they couldn't make obvious inferences from events or ask the right questions or learn from previous mistakes.

This was a terrible script.

I think about how there are so many directors and producers and actors and stagehands and all the rest who are looking for work, and Netflix throws money at these films that seem to be put together by a film crew working as hostages.

It seems that the film itself was recomposed in the editing room, but it still didn't make sense.

A Funny Movie with Heart

[justin_amoroso · 10/10 · 1 January 2019]

I loved this movie. It was funny and it had heart (something to say). The puppets were also a great touch to represent the main character's psyche. And it had a surprising ending. Also surprising: it wasn't sappy or Hallmarky. Yes, it was genuine but it was original. Script, acting, cinematography, music, pacing-just well done.

Christmas cheese and a half

[Mike_Devine · 2/10 · 24 December 2021]

We're all used to the countless Lifetime-ish holiday films that seem to multiply each year faster than rabbits. Take one scroll through Netflix's "Feel-good Christmas Movies" row and you may unfortunately stumble upon 'Holly Star.'

Where do we begin? First - puppets. If you make it through the first scene alone, you should get extra credit. Second - the lead, Sloan (Katlyn Carlson), is completely unlikable and it's hard to feel sorry for her. Her best friend, "Kay K" (Teya Patt), is basically a secondhand Melissa McCarthy. The only semi-likable character here is Grandma Kelly (Pamela Chabora), as she embodies everyone's idea of a "cool" grandma, but even the scenes featuring her aren't enough to lift spirits.

There are plenty of boneheaded decisions that are made throughout the film (mostly by Sloan, of course), as well as creepy dream sequences that are definitely what nightmares are made of - forget sugar plum fairies. And don't say you didn't see the cliched ending coming from a mile away. The only redeeming quality of 'Star' is it apparently was filmed on location in Maine.

It may seem like a harmless, fun holiday watch, but 'Holly Star' is not a movie that deserves any of your precious time this Christmas - or any Christmas, for that matter.

Not Cohesive

[tjconquestshop · 1/10 · 28 December 2021]

What a shockingly bad movie, it had no real plot, kept jumping around between what was going on and was not at all cohesive. The puppet flashbacks seemed irrelevant and were only included so Sloan could be a puppeteer.

There was no clear direction and the idea for the treasure hunt seems to be lost at the end, it was a pointless story line that didn't add anything to the overall movie.

Once it ended by wife and I looked at each other completely bemused that we'd spent an hour and a half watching Holly Star.

Warm holiday movie

[springforward · 8/10 · 17 December 2019]

Everyone acted and performed their parts perfectly. An enjoyable, fun romance with an added punch of spice and fizz.