‘Tis the Season for Setups
The Parent Trap… but for adult children
Launching the 2026 Countdown to Christmas with this one was an understandable choice. It has lots of the standard holiday movie tropes, in a classic “setting up the parents” plot set at a mountain ski resort.
This time, the main setup is between the two adult children of well-intentioned but meddling retirees who, unbeknownst to their children, are also an item. Sure, you could question the logic of the elder parents thinking, “you know what would make our new relationship even better - if we tricked our children into dating each other, too!” If their kids were in their teens this could lead to some interesting CPS calls, but maybe it’s not as weird if they’re grown adults… I digress…
You’ll appreciate some cute twists on the classic Hallmark movie tropes, including:
Beautiful log cabins.
A 12 Days of Christmas-themed escape room (seriously, why is this not more of a thing?!?)
Karaoke Carolling… aka “Carol-oke”. Cute.
Cutesy Christmas signature drinks. Respect - I also do this.
A wintry sleigh ride.
Filmed in Canada.
But, perhaps the best part about this movie for this reviewer was that the resort scenes were shot on location at Nakiska! As a ski parent this was immediately recognizable. Seriously – some shots could serve as ads for mid-week (i.e. completely uncrowded) skiing on a bluebird winter day. The only thing that pulled me out of the dreams of sunny days on the hill what that the interior lodge is absolutely nothing like what was depicted on-screen. Ski lodges (in my experience) are where social norms go to die. You cannot take a step inside without tripping over absurdly large ski bags that are strewn across the floor as though it was a teenager’s bedroom.
A decent first movie to start the year – come for the carol-oke, stay for the ski shots.
