Hallmark’s Christmas in July draws to a close this week, and it’s ending strong with the sweet and funny Unwrapping Christmas: Olivia’s Reunion. The film is the last of the four-film Unwrapping Christmas franchise, a story about two college sweethearts reunited after years apart, and it’s a lovely way to end the month.
Opening Shot: Olivia (Cindy Busby) fills her car with wrapped gifts before heading to her shop.
The Gist: If you’ve been keeping up with the Unwrapping Christmas movies, you don’t need me to remind you that Olivia is one of four friends who run a successful gift wrap shop in St. Paul, Minnesota. It’s a bustling Christmas season for them – not only is the shop super busy, but they’re also sponsoring the local annual charity gala. Olivia has filled her car up with gifts she wrapped for a customer and has planned to drive out to the remote house near a ski resort to deliver them.
As she drives through a snowstorm to make her delivery, she’s shocked to learn that her customer is the family of her college ex-boyfriend Ben (Jake Epstein). The family has all gone skiing but Ben is home to accept the delivery. He seems happy to see Olivia – at first – but soon it becomes clear why they broke up, and they start arguing over the details of their relationship. Olivia doesn’t need this buzzkill, so she decides to leave, but she realizes the snowstorm has forced the roads to close. She can’t leave. Ben’s family can’t come back from their ski day. The exes are stranded in the house together for days. It’s awkward but they make the best of it, decorating the place and getting reacquainted (i.e. just trying to figure out if the other is dating anyone right now).
It would be interesting enough seeing how these two exes handle each other while stranded alone in a snowstorm, but the movie mixes things up by introducing Jenny, the local shopkeeper who lives down the road from Ben. During the storm, her heat goes out and she calls Ben to ask if he can fix it. He heads over to her place and shortly after, Olivia makes another failed attempted to try and drive out of the neighborhood, but finds the roads still closed, so she, too arrives on Jenny’s doorstep. When she sees Ben and Jenny interacting, Olivia assumes they like each other. (On the flip side, Jenny can see that Ben’s true affections is for Olivia.)
Jenny sends the pair home with some provisions and they eat dinner together and things start to get less contentious, more familiar and comfortable like old times. Then Olivia reads a story Ben wrote – that’s clearly about her – called “A Love Unique” and realizes that they still share a mutual love that never went away. Just as they start to rekindle things, Ben’s family, including his overbearing mom, returns home from the lodge and are shocked to find Olivia there. Ben hadn’t told them she was the one delivering the gifts and they’re kind of uncomfortable at the idea that Ben’s ex, with whom things ended badly, is spending Christmas with them. With the local bridge closed, Olivia still can’t leave and assumes she’ll miss the gala, and she’s really starting to get homesick. Soon, the whole family realizes that Ben and Olivia are actually great together, and their rekindled relationship is the best gift of all.
Our Take: Hallmark’s Christmas in July rollout of the Unwrapping Christmas movies has given us a month of easy, comforting romances, some of which have been stronger than others. Ranking them is so subjective, but after watching all four, I think my favorite might be Olivia’s Reunion, partly because it’s the only one that gives each of the four women in the main cast the most to do. In the three other films, they’re all relegated to mere cameos, showing up all-too-briefly in support roles while one of them takes center stage. But in this one, we get to see what’s going on with them back home in some fun scenes as they dog-sit Olivia’s dog Ivy, and we’re rewarded with some callbacks to the other films, like Mia’s obsession with the Christmas in Derbyshire books.
One of the best things about Hallmark film franchises (like Love on the Danube and The Groomsmen) is how the films all tie together. The reason other Unwrapping Christmas movies have felt less successful is the fact that they feel in many ways like they exist on their own and don’t utilize their supporting characters enough. The more cohesive use of the supporting cast in this final film, plus Olivia and Ben’s easy, familiar rapport, helps make it more rewarding. In this series, they’ve saved he best for last.
Parting Shot: Just hours before the gala, the roads re-open so Ben and Olivia rush to get there. They arrive just in time for Olivia to compete in the Best in Bow gift-wrap contest and reunite with her girls, Lily, Mia and Tina. The four of them pose for a photo underneath the mistletoe and then huddle together so Olivia can fill them in on what’s going on with Ben.
Performance Worth Watching: Epstein and Busby have a great chemistry together, each of them is great at playing up their affection for each other, layered under their jealousy and resentment over the past. It results in some funny, snarky moments between the two that are fun to watch.
Memorable Dialogue: “Let’s just say it’s been an interesting holiday for all of us,” Olivia tells Ben, referring to the romance-filled festive season for her and her besties.
Our Call: It’s been hard to judge each of the Unwrapping Christmas films this month, because none of them are disappointing, some are just stronger than others. If you had to pick just one, OIivia’s Reunion is worth it. STREAM IT.
Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.