“Don’t Forget I Love You,” starring Emilie Ullerup and Clayton James, originally aired on January 22 on Hallmark Channel. Written by Barbara Kymlicka, it was directed by Christie Will Wolf, who has directed several Hallmark movies, such as Five Star Christmas. The movie was filmed in Vancouver, Canada.
This movie was filmed in 2020 and the script was called “Time Capsule Romance,” but then was changed to “Romancing the Birthday Girl” when it was released in Hungary (!?) in 2021. But Hallmark opted to change its name and hold the movie for a 2022 airing, for some reason.
The Capilano Suspension Bridge in Vancouver is open for visitors and entrance to the park is $60 for adults. The park also features a cliffwalk and something called “treetops adventure” which is 7 suspension bridges connected in the treetops.
This will be a very brief write-up if only because I didn’t have many thoughts on this movie. This is truly what Hallmark adds to the calendar when they need a filler movie.
In a nutshell
Despite being a time-filler and having a HUGE plot issue, I thought the movie was kind of cute. It certainly won’t be one of my favorites for the year, but I thought Emilie Ullerup was great, and the movie was mildly entertaining despite its flaws.
The Plot of “Don’t Forget I Love You”
On her birthday, Taylor opens a time capsule left by her deceased mother, which contains a list of challenges forcing her out of her comfort zone and opening her up to the possibility of love with her new neighbor, Josh.
Actors & Chemistry
I much preferred Taylor and Josh as friends and neighbors versus a romantic pairing. There was friend chemistry, but I didn’t feel any romantic chemistry between these two. Despite this, I thought Ullerup and James did a fine job with the material they had.
Tropes
Deceased parent and spouse. Cute kid. At this point should we go ahead and make scavenger hunts a minor trope? This is our 3rd or 4th scavenger hunt movie from this network. There weren’t many others that I spotted.
Did I Hear/See That Right?
Did her mother plant Taylor’s original birth certificate in the ground for years? Really? What if she needed it to get her passport? A marriage license? Any other proof of id situation?
I submit that “put the kettle on” is not a well-known phrase in the United States. Very well known other places, but if you were to say, “Come on in, I just put the kettle on,” to the average US citizen, they will ask what you mean.
Her business, Space to Live, has a very large sign on the side of the office building. Does the company make that kind of money that it can afford to have a GINORMOUS SIGN on the side of an office building? Because from where I sat, there were only two people working for that company.
But the biggest issue I had was: who was Susan? She kept showing up and her character was never explained. Is she the dead wife’s sister? A co-worker? A neighbor? A girlfriend? A nanny? The movie NEVER explained who she was. But she clearly was somebody because when she saw the ring she kind of assumed it was for her. And then Josh kind of made a weird speech to her, which Susan subsequently said no to. WHAT? There was NO INKLING that Susan was ANYONE other than someone that provided comfort to the kid after her mom died. Clearly there were a couple scenes that got deleted in the editing room that should have stayed in.
Feelgoods
Taylor’s reaction to spiders is my reaction to spiders. I legit felt that. And I hate those spiders that have bulbous backsides. So gross. I shivered just now typing in that sentence about spiders’ backsides. That’s how much I don’t like spiders – just typing the words makes my skin crawl. So I felt kinship with Taylor in that moment and I, too, might have run out of my house panicking that the devil’s pet may be somewhere in my hair.
Re-watchability of “Don’t Forget I Love You”
No, this movie is not re-watchable, and to be honest I’ll be very surprised if Hallmark even re-airs this. *checks Hallmark Movie app* Well I’ll be. It’s re-airing on May 15, 2022.
The Ranking
“Don’t Forget I Love You” will likely be forgettable by year’s end. It has a low enough score that it won’t be considered one of the worst for the year (despite the Susan character), but it will likely land in that lower third in which I see the title and can’t remember anything about it.
- Just One Kiss (air date: Apr 2) – 660 pts – weighted score: 111.2 (78.0%)
- A Royal Runaway Romance (air date: Apr 9) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.9% (74.3%)
- The Perfect Pairing (air date: Jan 15) – 563 pts – weighted score: 92.7 (65.0%)
- Don’t Forget I Love You (air date: Jan 22) – 508 pts – weighted score: 85.8 (60.2%)
- The Wedding Veil (air date: Jan 8) – 508 pts – weighted score: 83.3 (58.4%)
- Where the Heart Belongs (air date: Jan 1) – 435 pts – weighted score: 74.5 (52.3%)
To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!
What did you think of “Don’t Forget I Love You”? Comment below and let me know!
