Netflix’sHot Frostyhas effectively been branded as part of the opening salvo of a return to form for the streamer’s traditionally robust Christmas movie slate, as their platter of holiday offerings in 2023 was empty of major high-concept releases. With the new movie being followed by the Chad Michael Murray-ledThe Merriest Gentlemen, about a young woman saving her family’s venue by putting on a Christmas show featuring male exotic dancers, it has been the streamer’s implicit promise that not only are the holidays at Netflix back, they are spicier than ever.
Cast
The opening scene ofHot Frostypromises that the movie — which featuresSchitt’s CreekstarDustin Milligan asa hunky snowman who is brought to life by a magical scarfput on him by Lacey Chabert’s widowed café owner Kathy — will be different from the typical Christmas movie fluff. In the sequence, a hat reminiscent of the iconic Frosty blows onto a snowman and then into the street, where it is promptly run over. “Take that, family-friendly holiday filmmaking!” it seems to holler. Unfortunately, the movie that follows does not make good on the intro’s promise.
Hot Frosty Does Not Use Lacey Chabert To Its Advantage
The Hallmark Star Delivers Another Hallmark Performance
TheNetflix Christmas moviehas long made attempts to recreate the Hallmark movie formula, though those efforts have generally centered the streamer’s own home-grown holiday stars like Vanessa Hudgens (thePrincess Switchtrilogy,The Knight Before Christmas) or Lindsay Lohan (Falling for Christmas, the upcomingOur Little Secret). Bringing on Hallmark Christmas queen Lacey Chabert to star in her very own release on the platform was a bold move,seemingly meant to use the strange juxtaposition to emphasize how differentHot Frostyis from what we would expectfrom the typical wholesome fare aired on the cable network.
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Unfortunately,Chabert is not asked to give anything more than her typical Hallmark performance. She is tremendously effective at delivering pathos and good cheer under the typical constraints of Hallmark, but the network’s truncated production schedules typically require her to play archetypes rather than layered characters. Prickly With a Heart of Gold is a perennial favorite, for example. Here, she pulls from the Grieving Widow and Pillar of the Community buckets, and while she does a good job, the canned wholesomeness of the character doesn’t elevate a movie that is in dire need of some grit and heft.
Hot Frosty Is Sweet But Generic
The Movie Only Occasionally Comes To Life
The newest installment in theNetflix holiday movie universeis thankfully, but only somewhat,buoyed by Dustin Milligan’s complete full-tilt commitment to his roleas the doe-eyed snowman himbo Jack. He pulls off a series of comic moments with aplomb, preventing the generic screenplay from ever feeling too punishingly familiar. While the movie doesn’t do enough to subvert the “Born Sexy Yesterday” trope other than gender-swap it, Milligan’s warm performance of his cold character does wonders to bring Jack to life. The movie also shows spasms of life elsewhere.
The trope, which was popularized under the term “Born Sexy Yesterday” by YouTuber Jonathan McIntosh in 2017, typically involves a conventionally attractive female character who is especially naive or literally has the mind of a child, as seen in movies includingThe Fifth ElementandAlita: Battle Angel.
For instance, while Joe Lo Truglio and Craig Robinson are wasted as a pair of unfunny comic relief cops, both have one exemplary moment apiece. However, any fun that is to be had is hard-won by cracking through a calcified crust of bland filmmaking. The cinematography drowns everything in a too-crisp blue-gray digital sheen, whilethe production design is apathetic at best and actively harmful at worst(the Main Street of a place where “everyone in town” looks to be a crowd of about 30 people has such an impersonally metropolitan look that it’s practically brutalist).
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Meet Me Next Christmas brings the typical Hallmark holiday movie to Netflix as two people unlucky in love find themselves connecting at Christmas.
On top of everything,Hot Frostyfails to deliver on its premise. Its title promises something of a raucousMagic Mikegood time, but other than brief sequences of various townspeople ogling Jack there is no passion at the movie’s core. It’s to the point that it barely seems Kathy is aware Jack is attractive at all. Rather than pushing the streamer’s holiday content in a unique new direction, the movie delivers a rote, cookie-cutter fish-out-of-water comedy that proves it’s reallyno different from any other high-concept Netflix rom-com.
Hot Frostyis now on Netflix. The film is 92 minutes long and rated TV-PG for language.
Hot Frosty
Hot Frosty is a heartwarming holiday film where a young widow’s magic scarf brings a charming snowman to life. Together, they embark on a journey filled with romance and laughter, as she rediscovers joy and holiday spirit with his help before he melts away.
