A Tale of Two Christmases (2022 TV Movie) User Reviews

Not at all confusing

[sysgoddess · 5/10 · 14 December 2022]

I don't understand why so many are confused by or stymied by the dual timeline but I have my suspicions.

The key to which reality she's in at any given time is even minor attention to the detail of what she's wearing. The split screen at the start gives a big clue- in one reality she's wearing a winter white coat while in the other she's wearing a bright white coat. I won't even enumerate the many others.

The movie was cute and I didn't hate it but it was another mediocre Hallmark by the numbers romance they work into everything (over-achieving, over-dressed women, frequent , very long commercial breaks, etc.) complete with the picture perfect ending.

It's in our "Glad we saw it once" bucket

[VetteRanger · 6/10 · 29 November 2022]

Over the years, Hallmark has done a few of these "alternate reality" stories, and they are a break from the normal straight through romance which check all the same boxes ... except half of this one checked those boxes anyway.

Our female lead (who reminded me a LOT of Annette O'Toole) winds up in simultaneous alternate realities via a not so clear split screen scene where in one she suffers a delay and barely misses her flight home and stays in Chicago an extra day and spends time with the dreamy lawyer from a firm in the building her company occupies. In the other, she makes her flight and spends her planned Christmas with family and old friends.

Unlike many of these stories, there's no "good boyfriend/bad boyfriend" dynamic. I like both guys. In fact, I liked the lawyer best. The "hometown boyfriend" was a bit of a Drama King in my opinion. That was one of the common tropes ... the hometown guy where they'd both had unrequited love many years ago. The question is ... which will she choose when she's back to one reality?

Yes, there is ONE timeline goof near the end. Can you spot it, too?

Sliding Doors, Hallmark style. Likable leads, but the story was just OK

[MichaelByTheSea · 6/10 · 27 November 2022]

I'm a big fan of Hallmark's what if? Alternate reality movies so I was looking forward to this movie. Lacey Chabert starred in a good one called "Family For Christmas", Nikki Deloach was in another good one called "A Dream of Christmas" and Eloise Mumford was luminous in "Just in Time For Christmas".

A Tale of Two Christmasses, however, is more like Gwyneth Paltrow's Sliding Doors, which showed two different realities play out depending on whether Gwyneth's character catches a subway train or not. Sliding Doors was more dramatic (way more dramatic). Here, Emma, played by Katherine Barrell, is a Chicago architect who has two different realities play out depending on whether she makes or misses a flight out of Chicago. The biggest problem with both movies is that it's hard to effectively show two movies, about two different stories, inside one movie. There really isn't enough time to see both alternative realities play out in a meaningful way.

Emma has a crush on a lawyer in her building named Max, played by Evan Roderick. The movie seems to take subtle jabs at his work for the environment (the owls) which annoyed me. He seemed OK but his dislike of real Christmas trees was presented as some sort of defining strike against him. Instead, we're supposed to root for Drew, Emma's old platonic high school friend back home. He's played by a pleasant Chandler Massey. I liked him in 2021's amazing Next Stop Christmas, another alternate reality movie that, frankly, is way better than this one.

I don't recall seeing Katherine Barrell before, but she was fun to root for. Unfortunately, she seemed a bit too clumsy, confused and less than competent until she made her renovation suggestions at the ski lodge. I don't mind clumsy and confused in a character, but we kind of had to take it on faith that there was a reason to call her "Perfect Peterson".

I also didn't like the scene with Aunt Martha. It was way too weird. Playing dementia for laughs can be tricky, especially for those of us with family members suffering from it.

Also, the ending, and the big life choices made, seemed a bit forced, especially given the short time frame. I get a little frustrated with Christmas movie characters who literally up end their entire lives and make dramatic changes based on the experience of a few days. Here, Emma made life changing decisions based on a couple of days. That made no sense to me.

I was also troubled by how Drew would pretend to be someone he wasn't. It was a little sad to hear him respond that "I'm still mostly me". And as sad as it was to hear him say "I'm tired of waiting for you to see me", what "me" was that?

I grade Hallmark on a curve, but this seems like a 6 at best.

Cute but confusing

[acborgia · 7/10 · 27 November 2022]

We know that Emma experiences two different Christmases thanks to some Christmas magic. What's confusing though is that she wakes up on December 24th having missed her alarm. In one scenario she makes her flight home and in the other misses it. She then wakes up again on December 24th and you think you'll see what plays out for real. Except nope. One Christmas Eve she experienced was real and the other was a a dream. Which would have been fine except as clearly indicated by the date on her phone, it's Christmas Eve both times she wakes up. The movie goofed big time and made what could have been a cute movie confusing. At least it was casted well.

Christmas & Love in the City versus her Hometown

[HallmarkJenny · 7/10 · 29 November 2022]

'Home for the Holidays' is taken to the next level with this heart-warming story of Christmas in the Big City juxtaposed with Christmas with her Loved Ones. Wonderful life lessons are played out among both sides, ultimately reminding us what is important in our lives and at Christmas.

Summary: Emma pitches an architecture design in Chicago before she travels to her hometown in Vermont. Santa Claus hears Emma's wish to stay in the city for Christmas. Christmas Eve morning, she misses her flight home and stays in the city with a new love interest, Max, and attends his Chic Christmas Party. In another scenario, Emma catches her flight home and enjoys a Family Christmas Party with her childhood friend, Drew. Through the two Christmas Eves, Emma realizes what she wants out of life and who she wants to be.

"It turns out I prefer dysfunctional family gatherings to perfect holiday parties." -Emma

MeetCute: Emma and Max have said 'Hi' to each other many times around the office and it is clear they have crushes on one another. Emma and Max leave the office on the elevator and shyly smile. Emma turns around to talk to Max and runs into him. She introduces herself to him and they hit it off. Evan invites her to his Christmas Eve Party, but Emma says she has to go home to Vermont in the morning.

Emma calls her Dad and spots Drew, a childhood friend, helping put the lights up. Drew helps Emma's family all the time in hopes that Emma will notice him.

Setting: Chicago & Vermont Christmas in the City:

Chicago is where Emma lives and works at her architecture firm. Max works in her office building and invites Emma to his Christmas Eve party. Emma misses her flight and ends up getting a second shot at a model pitch at her firm to finish at the office on Christmas Eve. Max is also working.

Max invites Emma to his Christmas Party in his minimalist apartment. Emma has a real tree delivered and Max is obviously peeved at the mess it will make.

Christmas in her Hometown:

Emma goes home to Vermont on Christmas Eve Morning for her Parents' Christmas Eve Party. Drew picks her up from the airport.

Emma's Parents house is decorated for Christmas with lots of color! And lots of festive food! The ski lodge that Drew works at is cozy and Christmas-y.

Ending Kiss: Emma wakes up Christmas Morning and realizes spending Christmas Eve in her hometown was a dream. She really spent Christmas Eve in Chicago with Max. She goes to the airport Christmas Morning to go home and sees Max, who is going on a ski trip. Emma tells him she is not the girl for him.

Emma realizes she wants to go home for Christmas and renovate the Ski Lodge. At the airport, Santa wearing a Hawaiian shirt, winks at her. Santa was helping her find her way all along.

Emma and her Dad team up as an architecture and contractor business! "Sometimes, things happen the way they're supposed to." -Emma

Emma approaches Drew at the Ski Lodge, as he tries to fix the breaker issue of the Christmas Lights. Emma tells him jiggle the cord and the lights turn on!

Emma tells Drew that she wants someone who makes life fun and pushes her, that she has feelings for him, and that she wants to be with him. "No matter where I go, you always feel like home." -Emma

Emma and Drew Kiss!

Just KISS her already, so we can move on!

[dataferret-87524 · 4/10 · 1 December 2022]

This is one of those movies that starts off with an interesting premise, bounces around in confusion, and just takes an agonizingly long time to wrap up. It manages to hit the point of no return, where you might feel you've already invested (wasted?) sufficient time to justify sitting through the inevitable. Your reward is the slow, inexorable (excruciating?) suction into its sappy, sloppy, conclusion where our protagonist chooses to surrender her career to a drama king "for love".

If you're in the privacy of home, you're inclined to yell at the TV in frustration.

And for a rom-com, it's not that funny. I gave it a 4 because the leads really did try to make the best of a rat's nest haircut.

Speaking of which, for gawd's sake, you get a candy cane out of your luxurious hair with hot water, not by having your meddling, inept, yakkity-yak MOTHER hack it out with kitchen shears!

Sweet and super simplified sliding door type romantic comedy.

[cgvsluis · 6/10 · 25 October 2023]

If only we all had these problems...two sweet and attractive guys like you and your successful at your job and have a loving family to go home to.

Emma (Katherine Barrell) is a beautiful successful architect living in the city, but heading home for Christmas...or at least she is supposed to. This is where the story splits, in one scenario she makes her flight home and gets to enjoy Christmas with her family and the sweet boy next door and in the other she misses her flight and ends up spending Christmas Eve in the city with a dreamy lawyer who works in her building.

Honestly, I get why it ends the way it does...but I kind of liked the dreamy lawyer Max played by Evan Roderick. It was nice not to have any villains in this split scenario.

It was kind of a middle of the road holiday romance, but slightly different than the usual Hallmark fare...so maybe worth a watch.

A Tale of Two Dum Dums

[cammietime · 4/10 · 30 December 2022]

A tale of Two Christmases sounds interesting until it's not. We follow scatter brained female lead Emma (Katherine Barrell defaulting to girl-next-door but trying her best to be corporate) as she encounters two different, parallel, and perplexing Christmas timelines that converge on a significant plot hole that will leave you even more baffled and confused. None of it makes any sense and it's like the director didn't even watch the completed film, had they done so they would realize they need to fire the editor. This mess was completely avoidable had they run the alternate Christmas experiences in linear order, completing one before moving on to the next, and then fixing the ending to eliminate the plot hole.

Emma doesn't know what she wants - the classic Hallmark Christmas in a quaint Vermont town with the sweet Drew who is BFF's with her parents and never left home (an overacting Chander Massey) or the edgy 'big city' Chicago experience with the classy well-funded workaholic Max (a wooden Evan Roderick). Usually these are separate movies for Hallmark, but this time they tried to put them both into a single film - a novel idea that I really like. The execution however is a horrendous, epic fail. If you've ever seen Back to the Future you know that time travel and alternate realities create plot holes that must be nominally addressed or it all quickly devolves into nonsense. Well, they didn't address anything here. It's head scratching how the timelines diverge at the beginning and we are dazed and confused from then on. The movie keeps switching from timeline to timeline but doesn't do a good enough job juxtaposing them against each other so you think you are watching one timeline when you are actually watching the other. You the viewer spend more time trying to sort this all out than paying attention to what is going on with the characters.

We can blame this whole mess on Santa. He shows up and gives the magical eye wink but doesn't deliver the goods in terms of explaining what he actually did. Were the alternate timelines dreams as implied by the ending? Or does Emma have to permanently live with her actions during those two alternate realities as implied by the plot hole? It's not clear to us and I don't think it was clear to the script writer either.

Essentially Drew was one way and Max the other. Drew was a dream, Max was real, except, plot hole. The only viable solution to this that I can think of is that Max was confused and showed up at the airport a day early for his ski trip, totally forgetting he was supposed to be in the office on Christmas Eve and throwing a party at his apartment that night while Emma somehow knows about his ski trip from some unseen conversation between the two. On the other hand Max seems to fully accept Emma dumping him at the airport meaning he remembers the night before when she threw a tantrum after dropping a yule log and insisted on leaving the party early. Otherwise her entire speech to him at the airport would utterly confound him because he barely knows her since the Christmas Eve they spent together never happened... In the end I have to say it is quite possible her phone just had a glitch and showed December 24 instead of the correct December 25, and then, well, all is well.

Outside of the parallel universe stuff, we have standard Hallmark fare here. There is a meandering dull plot, really bad dubbing, the last five minutes are the most interesting of it all, a 'don't wear high heels' cliche, an unnecessary co-worker who doubles as a personal friend, a stereotypical 30 something Millennial meltdown that requires parental emotional support, and of course "Vermont" looks like Colorado.

The film does deviate from Hallmark standard in a few ways beside the parallel plot lines though, like Emma is refreshingly normal looking with a normal body shape, she doesn't look like the overdressed barbie dolls we see in way too many other Hallmark movies. Maybe it's just me but Emma's mom kinda looks like she had some plastic surgery done which is at odds with usual Hallmark parents. Then we have the total lack of any kind of weirdo out of place side character, I guess the co-worker is supposed to fill this role but her lines are totally irrelevant to the plot and she is mostly an afterthought.

All in all A Tale of Two Christmases is filled with a messy plot, actors who appear to be acting for the first time, and some odd choices in content. Had they watched the awful editing in Flags of Our Fathers and realized parallel timelines are always a bad idea and made everything linear here, they might have had a home run instead of a total strike out.

Mixed bag of unpleasantness

[MickyG333 · 6/10 · 10 November 2023]

6.4 stars.

The story of a woman named Emma not living up to her potential and is well aware of it. She has low expectations for herself and is stuck in a low level architecture position rather than what she has always dreamed of. Emma has been unable to approach a man named Max whom she's been crushing on for months and this is one of many unsatisfactory aspects of her life. She has a female best friend named Holly who knows her very well and supports her through these minor trials.

As the holidays roll around, Holly is going to Hawaii, and Emma will be flying to her hometown to see her family, as usual. She has a male best friend from childhood named Drew that lives in her hometown as well.

We can see that she has two possible love interests: Drew and Max. So the story is intriguing in the first act. We notice that she and Drew have a certain affinity for each other, maybe a deep affection, but it was never explored and both have moved on. Max whom she often crosses paths with, is long overdo to introduce himself, so maybe she'll take matters into her own hands, if she can muster the confidence.

A split in fate occurs at the airport. In one timeline she goes home to visit family and Drew, and in the other she misses her flight and stays in the city and might get to know Max. The two "could be" future timeliness are familiar, and the narrative is somewhat overdone by Hallmark, however this particular spin makes for a potentially wonderful story.

The setting and all the elements are fashionably and expertly presented to make for a very entertaining execution (albeit repetitive). But...something is way off. The film misses the mark in spades. What went awry? I like the lead female, but unfortunately her character is the undoing of 'A Tale of Two Christmases'. Drew and Max are very likable which is rare for Hallmark to make both men equally as charismatic, thereby making it difficult for the audience to choose one over the other. The parents and relatives and even Max's friends are affable as well. It's a shame that Emma is just so-so and dare I say, borderline atrocious as a personality.

Falls flat with confusion and inconsistencies, but well cast

[mccabe-shannon · 5/10 · 2 December 2022]

Who needs all those bells and whistles when the cocoa is sourced ethically. Umm. Is that really a line?! So in the hometown storyline she goes home and wants plain hot chocolate because the city girl stays away from sugar. But I'm the Chicago timeline the Chicago girl rolls her eyes to the plain hot chocolate?!

This is one example of some of The inconsistencies in this movie. It's a bit confusing of a timeline and how things are happening.

I think the casting was good. I like all of them. I think it's the script and direction they're working with that just isn't working for me on this one.

I was looking forward to this one but it meh falls flat.

FINALLY a good Hallmark movie!

[katkwong · 10/10 · 9 December 2022]

I came on here to say how much I liked this movie, my favorite on in 10 years.

It makes me sad that so many people thought it was confusing. It's just that movie Sliding Doors but with Santa. I LOVED it, and so did my husband. Cute. I hope Hallmark will make more movies like this one, with a cute actress who did a great job by the way. I'll watch the series that she is in now to check it out. My daughter says she plays a gay character on the series and that might be why some people didn't like this movie. Time to get with the program! I hope I don't see this kind of stuff for the LGBTQ movie that will be on Hallmark.

Makes more sense After you watch it!

[mamachikn · 5/10 · 8 December 2022]

I watched this for the first hour with my husband, then as it seemed a little boring, we skipped over and watched a few scenes until the end.

We decided to give it a 5, which means it was below expectations for a decent movie.

Reading the reviews and thinking about the storyline again made me realize it's better than it appears, but it takes some analysis.

The one error was the date on the phone at the end, when it was actually the next day, Christmas morning.

She had the dream after the whole day of Christmas Eve, when she missed her flight.

She dreamed that night that she had actually made the flight, after the not so perfect date with the guy she had wanted to know for a while. He wasn't as perfect for her as he first appeared to be, and she realized it.

She knew that helping the Santa guy with his luggage had made her miss her flight.

She imagined in the dream that she didn't stop to help and the whole scenario unfolds from there.

She had conformed to other people's expectations in the city. When the guy talked about plain ethically sourced chocolate, it made her think. She probably thought about the way she liked it when she lived at home.

She had changed and she realized it. The day with the "perfect" guy brought out all the things she didn't really like about her new city self. She realized she had compromised who she was for perceived acceptance by her peers.

So the whole dream played out in her mind that night and nothing worked the way she originally thought it would.

When she awakened Christmas morning she was relieved that it had been a dream.

She realized she loved Drew and intended to tell him. She realized who she really was and what she really wanted in her life.

I think on a second watch it may deserve a higher rating.

We almost turned it off at the beginning with the really dumb model fiasco! That was hard to watch, but I suggested we keep going. We only made it to an hour, but I like the movie better when I understand it, lol.

How Did That Happen?

[jmorrial · 3/10 · 29 November 2022]

Unfortunately, the scriptwriter needed to have taken the time to explain how the girl could experience two different Christmas scenarios when she missed her flight. The only hint was when a man who looked a lot like Santa told her, "may all her wishes come true." Since she did not wish she had missed her flight, the movie was difficult to understand. Even if you suspend your disbelief in what happened, it is still confusing that the movie shifts from scenario 1 to scenario 2. Too bad Chandler Massey had to be cast in another Christmas movie where he is the unexpected choice. He had already done that in his other Christmas movie, "Next Stop Christmas."

Hard to follow

[moonheart · 3/10 · 26 November 2022]

It jumps around from one scenario to the other. In one she calls her parents to say she missed her flight, in the other to ask why they're not at the airport to pick her up. Unless it's two completely different realities there is absolutely no way that this would work. If it is, then it shouldn't be so choppy. I gave it a three due to the actors doing their very best, if not for them then it would have rated in the basement, but it has to be given a single star minimum. I usually enjoy the Hallmark Xmas movies, but this one only stayed on because of lack of other shows at the time. I recommend giving it a hard pass, sadly. The actors did try...

A tale of 2 Christmases was 2 Christmases too many.

[sassy-snape · 4/10 · 25 January 2023]

A tale of 2 Christmases was 2 Christmases too many. I've been working at clearing my DVR of Christmas movies. I liked the idea of two different timelines, but not the end result.

The lead actress had no chemistry with either lead actor and I didn't care who she ended up with. It was just sort of meh. Maybe they needed a stronger lead.

I wasted 2 hours watching this, but won't have to do it again. I would rather watch repeats of Three wise men and a baby or Haul out the Holly.

Christmas at the Golden Dragon did a nice job telling the multiple stories and how they intermingled with each other. If you're looking for a movie with multiple storylines, Golden Dragon or Holiday Spectacular would be my recommendation.

Good but with some confusion in the timelines

[jjbdavis-88338 · 8/10 · 6 December 2022]

We liked the movie overall. However, it does involve 2 timelines, one within reality (involving the lawyer) and one a dream (involving the hometown boy), which is somewhat confusing -- particularly in the early part of the movie and again in a major way toward the end when a cell phone is shown with the date December 24, which should have been December 25 (Christmas morning). This is also well summarized within the Critic Reviews by the Romance Movie Fanatic.

One other possible discrepancy relates to the heroine's flight from Chicago leaving at 8 AM Christmas morning but arriving in Vermont such that she is riding home with her father in the dark -- must have been a bad air travel day!

Weird Concept, Likeable Cast

[flickaustralia · 5/10 · 18 December 2022]

I thought it would be a ground hog, family man, it'sa wonderful life style plot.

It's not. The concept almost made me not even want to watch it, but I did. Two tales, two different timelines, two different mains. All happening at the same time.... Or something. So weird.

Didn't love it. The main character played the role well, and the couple had some chemistry, but I think the screenwriter could've used some help .

Also, Candy canes dissolve in water. It's not gum.

They Did NOT need to cut off her hair...🙄 if they wanted a reason for a makeover, they could've at least used some red and green gum in her hair.

Heart warming.

[tmccheyne · 8/10 · 10 July 2023]

Don't believe the bad reviews...this a nice feel good movie with nice chemistry. Yes it's predictable as they all are. You know who should be with who, but does that matter when the acting is believable and the chemistry is good. I loved this couple. Dad was also good, I know he is in many of these but in this one he had more of a role with real good acting. Always thought he deserved more of a role.

Could always do with more back story, it would be nice to have had more of her family involvement less of the work setting, but there is a limitation of time.

It's well worth watching and I don't think you would be disappointed.

Emma Peterson (Kat Barrell)

[aab874 · 10/10 · 20 December 2022]

Favorite scene with

Emma Peterson (Kat Barrell) Staying in Chicago - The Yule Log Cake Disaster. Oops!!!

Emma Peterson (Kat Barrell) Going to Vermont - She and Drew (Chandler Massey) Hilariously and Very Badly Pretending to be Christmas Carolers. Yikes!!!

BTW #1, I Loved this Movie! BTW #2, This Movie Reminds me of the Movie Sliding Doors Starring Gwyneth Paltrow. BTW #3, I Loved Drew (Chandler Massey)! He was So Charming, So Funny, and So Hot!!! BTW #4, Although the Vermont Scenes were Just a Dream, I'm Glad that Emma Woke Up and Learned her Lesson in Chicago and Realized what she Truly Wanted in Vermont.

Set in Illinois and Vermont.

It's better the 2nd time around

[agrg-86386 · 8/10 · 11 January 2024]

The first time I watched it I spent too much time trying to figure out what timeline she was in so I felt the movie was just "meh". The next time I watched it I decided not to focus on trying to figure out the timelines and just follow the stories- it was a lot more enjoyable this way. After watching it the second time I thought it was a cute movie

In the end, the real story line (what actually happened) is that she stayed in Chicago and went to the lawyer's party. So the timeline with Drew was a dream. We didn't find out anything about the lawyer that made him unlikeable so it seemed strange that she decides she's in love with Drew.. but I'll accept it. At least she's not moving home to work in a farm (typical Hallmark-esque) but is instead going to start her own business. Good for her. I liked the lead actress and hope to see her in more movies in the future.