Rating: 🎄🎄🎄🎄
Premier Date: November 1, 2025
Description: When famously private cookbook author and lifestyle guru Joy Edwards learns her publisher has arranged a live Christmas Eve TV special at her picturesque home, “Goose Lane,” she panics—because her “perfect family” doesn’t actually exist. Years ago, her agent convinced her to invent a husband, kids, and doting parents to sell her brand, and she’s been faking it ever since. With her secret on the verge of exposure, Joy recruits her best friend Max, her housekeeper, the mailman, and a couple of neighbor kids to play her picture-perfect family. Naturally, pretending to have a family leads to actually feeling like one, and those fake sparks with Max turn into something very real.
Chemistry: Chad Michael Murray (a.k.a. The Internet’s Perennial Holiday Boyfriend) nails the pining-best-friend role, while his co-star brings just enough flustered energy to make their dynamic believable. The two have easy chemistry—not fireworks, but definitely the warm, slow-burn kind that pairs well with twinkle lights.
Plot: This one wears its inspiration proudly—a modern Christmas in Connecticut remake. It keeps the heart and humor of the original while updating the stakes for today’s influencer world. Watching Joy juggle her fictional family while slowly realizing what she’s been missing feels both nostalgic and fresh.
Design: Goose Lane delivers the kind of décor you’d expect from a woman who sells “perfect holidays” for a living: classy, cozy, and gleaming with the right amount of overachievement. The snow looks real, the lighting is warm, and the mantle is magazine-ready.
Overall: I didn’t expect to enjoy this one as much as I did, which could be due to the fact that it wasn’t on my radar at all. It was solid and enjoyable.
Best Enjoyed With: A cinnamon roll and the comforting thought that everyone is faking it sometimes.
Holiday Movie Wrap 