I wasn’t sure what to expect from ‘Twas The Text Before Christmas. Would it be a take on ‘Twas The Night Before Christmas? What would that look like in a Christmas romance movie? Let’s take a look…

Addie (Merritt Patterson) is a New York City chiropractor. When her father, Bruce (Rob Stewart), goes to Australia to spend Christmas with her brother, Addie is left alone. She receives an accidental text from Maybel (Jayne Eastwood) intended for Maybel’s granddaughter, Paige. Addie and Maybel start talking and, when Maybel finds out that Addie will be alone for Christmas, the older woman invites her to spend the holiday with her family. With no other plans, Addie agrees.

Surprisingly, this wasn’t a terrible movie. It is a little annoying that it only takes place over three consecutive Christmases so we don’t get to see what anyone is doing during the rest of the year. It would have been nice to see Addie spend some time with her father since he goes to visit her brother every year - even though they are supposed to switch off spending Christmas with him. We see them have one dinner every year, which is when he tells her that he’s leaving again. From what we see, Maybel is a better parental figure to Addie than her own father.

The characters are rather two-dimensional so don’t go into this thinking you’re going to get anything deep out of it. The only time we see any of Addie’s other boyfriends is through her phone - one via social media and the other via phone calls. I know this is supposed to be about the Christmases that Addie and Maybel spend together. It just would have been nice to get to know them better as people.

Rating: I’m ready for the sequel where they spend every Easter together