Hallmark For All Seasons

“Ghosts of Christmas Always,” starring Kim Matula and Ian Harding, featuring Reginald VelJohnson and Lori Tan Chinn, aired on Hallmark Channel during the 2nd weekend of 2022’s Countdown to Christmas, on October 30, 2022. It was filmed in Hartford, Connecticut.

The delightful screenplay was written by Zac Hug with Annika Marks.  Longtime Hallmark fans will know Hug’s work from the Evergreen series, Matching Hearts and A Homecoming for the Holidays.  Rich Newey directed, having previously directed Christmas House 2 and Crashing Through the Snow, which are both awesome movies.

In a nutshell

I. LOVED. THIS. MOVIE.  This is one that I will never miss when it re-airs.  I adored the cast, I loved the script, I loved the entire thing.  LOVED IT.

The Plot of “Ghosts of Christmas Always”

Katherine is a Ghost of Christmas Present and she must help one soul, Peter, rediscover his Christmas spirit. But this year has something unusual in store.

Actors & Chemistry

This entire cast was sublime.  The comedic timing of every single person was impeccable.  The two actors pictured below, Reginald VelJohnson and Lori Tan Chinn, were great.  VelJohnson wasn’t used as much as I anticipated, but even had he been used more, it was Tan Chinn who stole this movie.  She was fantastic.

But Matula and Harding, our leads, were both fantastic as well.  Ian Harding as Peter was so fun and charming and adorable, while Matula’s chirpiness and bouncy attitude could have veered into annoying in lesser hands, but never did.  They had tremendous chemistry in every scene and my goodness I hope they do more for Hallmark and do more together.

Find the Tropes!

To be honest, I was thoroughly enjoying this movie so much that I hardly even took note of tropes.  I was that enthralled. CGI snow. Baking pies. A red truck during Katherine’s flashback.  House with a front porch. I’m sure there were others, but I didn’t write them down.  Comment below and let me know what you saw.

Did I Hear/See That Right?

The weird song at the Christmas party that Susan (played by Beth Leavel) sang – she was singing and then suddenly just stopped without finishing the song?

Did the movie explain that the ghosts could be corporeal?  I know that the alive people could touch the ghosts to travel through time and space, but they were also still invisible.  Does this mean when Katherine moved a box in the attic of the Rooty Tooty that to any other person that box was floating in midair from one spot to another?

Why did they choose to put a commercial break right after the line, “You were always the assignment?” spoken to Katherine? That was poor planning on the network’s part to cut there.

While the reunion of Peter and Katherine at the end of the movie was a bit confusing (HOW did he know she was real and not a ghost anymore?) I did not care one bit.

Feelgoods

The snappy dialogue, the funny dialogue, the quick pacing, the magic of it all – the entire movie was one big feelgood.  I did thoroughly love the fact that when Peter first saw the three ghosts and was talking about the Christmas Carol movies, he brought up the Carrie Fisher version, WHICH IS A HALLMARK MOVIE.

Re-watchability of “Ghosts of Christmas Always”

Oh yeah – I’m not only rewatching it, but I’m not deleting it from my DVR, just so I can watch it anytime I want this holiday season and beyond.  I LOVED THIS MOVIE.

The Rankings

You guys.  This movie is so far and away my favorite of 2022 that it actually made my top 5 of ALL TIME on my rankings list.  I don’t see how another movie could possibly catch up to this one this year.

1. Ghosts of Christmas Always (air date: Oct 30) – 732 pts – weighted score: 122.4 (85.9%)
2. A Kismet Christmas (air date: Oct 24) – 664 pts – weighted score: 113.2 (79.4%)
3. Two Tickets to Paradise (air date: June 25) – 664 pts – weighted score: 111.4 (78.1%)
4. Just One Kiss (air date: Apr 2) – 660 pts – weighted score: 111.2 (78.0%)
5. The Presence of Love (air date: Mar 13) – 650 pts – weighted score: 110.9 (77.8%)
6. Wedding of a Lifetime (air date: Sept 17) – 640 pts – weighted score: 108.2 (75.9%)
7. Dating the Delaneys (air date: Aug 20) – 638 pts – weighted score: 106.5 (74.7%)
8. Love, Classified (air date: Apr 16) – 624 pts – weighted score: 106.1 (74.4%)
9. A Royal Runaway Romance (air date: Apr 9) – 617 pts – weighted score: 105.9 (74.3%)
10. Jolly Good Christmas (air date: Oct 29) – 625 pts – weighted score: 105.7 (74.2%)
11. We Wish You a Married Christmas (air date: Oct 22) – 623 pts – weighted score: 105.7 (74.1%)
12. Rip in Time (air date: May 22) – 622 pts – weighted score: 105.3 (73.9%)
13. We Need a Little Christmas (air date: Oct 22) – 614 pts – weighted score: 105.1 (73.7%)
14. Campfire Christmas (air date: July 16) – 621 pts – weighted score: 104.9 (73.6%)
15. Noel Next Door (air date: Oct 21) – 609 pts – weighted score: 104.8 (73.5%)
16. Caribbean Summer (air date: June 11) – 636 pts – weighted score: 104.7 (73.5%)
17. A Cozy Christmas Inn (air date: Oct 28) – 626 pts – weighted score: 104.6 (73.5%)
18. Always Amore (air date: Apr 3) – 618 pts – weighted score: 104.5 (73.3%)
19. Hidden Gems (air date: Jun 4) – 611 pts – weighted score: 102.3 (71.8%)
20. Pumpkin Everything (air date: Oct 8) – 603 pts – weighted score: 101.6 (71.3%)
21. Autumn in the City (air date: Oct 15) – 594 pts – weighted score: 100.2 (70.3%)
22. Love in the Limelight (air date: Aug 6) – 604 pts – weighted score: 100.0 (70.2%)
23. Second Chance at Love (air date: Mar 26) – 585 pts – weighted score: 99.7 (69.9%)
24. Romance in Style (air date: Aug 13) – 562 pts – weighted score: 97.2 (68.2%)
25. Big Sky River (air date: Aug 7) – 568 pts – weighted score: 97.1 (68.1%)
26. Game, Set, Love (air date: Aug 27) – 552 pts – weighted score: 95.3 (66.9%)
27. A Tail of Love (air date: Apr 23) – 557 pts – weighted score: 94.4 (66.2%)
28. The Perfect Pairing (air date: Jan 15) – 563 pts – weighted score: 92.7 (65.0%)
29. Christmas in Toyland (air date: July 23) – 544 pts – weighted score: 92.4 (64.8%)
30. The Wedding Veil Legacy (air date: Feb 19) – 543 pts – weighted score: 92.0 (64.5%)
31. Welcome to Mama’s (air date: Feb 26) – 540 pts – weighted score: 91.9 (64.5%)
32. Butlers in Love (air date: Jan 29) – 527 pts – weighted score: 91.3 (64.0%)
33. Feeling Butterflies (air date: Mar 12) – 542 pts – weighted score: 91.2 (64.0%)
34. To Her, With Love (air date: Sept 11) – 536 pts – weighted score: 89.4 (62.7%)
35. The Wedding Veil Unveiled (air date: Feb 12) – 515 pts – weighted score: 86.9 (61.0%)
36. My Grown-Up Christmas List (air date: July 9) – 514 pts – weighted score: 86.9 (60.9%)
37. Road Trip Romance (air date: May 14) – 492 pts – weighted score: 85.9 (60.3%)
38. Don’t Forget I Love You (air date: Jan 22) – 508 pts – weighted score: 85.8 (60.2%)
39. The Wedding Veil (air date: Jan 8) – 508 pts – weighted score: 83.3 (58.4%)
40. Where the Heart Belongs (air date: Jan 1) – 435 pts – weighted score: 74.5 (52.3%)
41. 14 Love Letters (air date: July 31) – 420 pts – weighted score: 73.5 (51.6%)

To see where this movie lands in my overall rankings of Hallmark movies, visit my Hallmark Movie Rankings page!

What did you think of “Ghosts of Christmas Always”?  Comment below and let me know!