The Hallmark movie set in Luxembourg: Mulled wine and miracles
Nothing says Christmas quite like a cheesy rom-com set in an impossibly charming small town you’ve never heard of. But with all the obscure locales Hallmark has spotlighted, why not Luxembourg?
Nothing says Christmas quite like an improbably cheesy rom-com set in an impossibly charming small town you’ve never heard of. But with all the obscure locales Hallmark has spotlighted, why hasn’t Luxembourg made the cut? Let’s fix that, shall we?
Holly Evergreen (yes, that’s her real name), a UK travel journalist with a tragically chic wardrobe and zero tolerance for seasonal cheer, gets a last-minute assignment to write about “The Most Magical Christmas Markets in Europe.” Naturally, she rolls her eyes at the idea. But her editor, a stern woman named Vivian Frost, reminds her that failing to deliver the story of the century will land her back on the obituary beat. So, Holly begrudgingly packs her designer snow boots and jets off to Luxembourg City, the world’s least likely Christmas capital (or so she thinks).
Once she steps into the Place de la Constitution Christmas Market, Holly is hit with an actual blast of seasonal joy: glittering lights, life-sized nutcrackers, seemingly sentient reindeer sculptures, and enough mulled wine fumes to make her feel tipsy by osmosis. While attempting to take a perfectly filtered selfie in front of an 80-foot Christmas tree, she collides with Sam Noël (because obviously), a ruggedly handsome widowed ornament maker. His rustic booth is filled with intricately carved ornaments, each one accompanied by a handwritten note promising the recipient a Christmas miracle.
Miracles? Really? What is this, a Hallmark Movie?
Holly, naturally allergic to joy, scoffs at the idea. “Miracles? Really? What is this, a Hallmark Movie?” she quips, while Sam just chuckles mysteriously and hands her an ornament shaped like a tiny Eiffel Tower (because Luxembourg is near France, and we have to remind you constantly). Soon, Holly finds herself inexplicably drawn to Sam, his mildly precocious daughter Emma, and their totally impractical but heart-melting holiday traditions, which include making hot cocoa from scratch, building snow castles (better than snowmen, obviously), and decorating the town’s giant Christmas cookie tower.
But all is not well in the land of twinkling lights and excessive Christmas magic. Holly’s editor, Vivian, calls with a dire ultimatum: “Give me a scandal! I want to know what this Sam guy is really up to!” Armed with a magnifying glass she bought at the market (in a painfully quirky montage), Holly sets out to uncover the “truth” behind Sam’s ornaments. Is he secretly importing them from a sweatshop in Brussels? Does he sprinkle them with hallucinogenic Christmas dust?
Shocking revelations
As Holly digs deeper, she discovers shocking revelations: Sam is secretly carving these ornaments from the magical wood of a centuries-old enchanted Christmas tree, which grants them their miraculous properties. (Cue a heartfelt backstory involving Sam’s late wife, a blizzard, and the tree saving their lives in a mystical snow globe-like event.)
Naturally, this revelation sends Holly into a tailspin. Will she expose Sam’s holiday magic racket in her article and secure her spot as Travel Journalist of the Year? Or will she quit her job, move to Luxembourg, and help Sam fulfill his dream of turning the Christmas market into a year-round festival of miracles?
Of course, it all culminates on Christmas Eve, with a scene so drenched in snow, lights, and sentimentality that viewers at home might spontaneously combust. Holly must decide between publishing her exposé or confessing her feelings to Sam in front of the entire town—while Emma adorably presents her with a hand-painted ornament that says, "Follow Your Heart." Spoiler alert: She picks love and Christmas and throws her phone into a giant vat of mulled wine.