This year, we got the first movie from Hallmark that highlighted Kwanzaa, Holiday Heritage. I am so happy that Hallmark has become more open to different cultures. But was it any good?

Ella (Lyndie Greenwood) is a graphic designer living in Boston. When she comes home to Mary’s Town, PA for Christmas, she finds that her mother, Micah (Holly Robinson Peete), and grandmother, Tess (Darlene Cooke), aren’t getting along. With the help of her ex-boyfriend and now-mayor, Griffin (Brooks Darnell), she tries to get her family back together by bringing the Kwanzaa celebration back into their lives.

I fully admit that I didn’t know a lot about Kwanzaa before watching Holiday Heritage. It was really nice that, instead of just showing montages of lighting candles and other traditions, the movie explained the reason for each night. In addition, Ella used each night’s traditions to try to get through to Micah and Tess. I’m glad Hallmark spent time to really focus on Kwanzaa instead of the Big Romance. I hope this is a good sign for the future.

Yes, yes, yes. Go watch this one. The movie wasn’t anything amazing but it is amazing that Hallmark is reaching beyond the “traditional” white woman Christmas movie. I am so excited to see what Hallmark has planned for the future. Watching more of these diverse movies shows the channel that, yes, we do want to see more of this.

One of this year’s biggest Christmas movie tropes have been “former couple loses touch and gets back together.” To name a few from this year’s crop: A Godwink Christmas: Second Chance, First Love, The Christmas House, and Meet Me At Christmas. Then we get it again with Let’s Meet Again On Christmas Eve.

Corinne (Kyla Pratt) and Rob (Brooks Darnell) were college sweethearts. When Rob got an offer to go to Paris for two years to work on his photography skills, Corinne makes a deal with him. They will break up for the two years then meet again at the campus Christmas tree on Christmas Eve to see if they still have the spark of love. Seven years later, Corinne gets a job planning a Christmas wedding for a wealthy couple - Nancy (Nancy Sorel) and Sam (Paul Essiembre). Rob happens to be their wedding photographer. What will happen when the former couple has to spend two weeks on a project together?

One of the things that annoys me about these ‘lost love’ storylines is - why didn’t they just call/email/text each other? When Rob didn’t show up, why didn’t Corinne email him to see why he didn’t come? When Rob saw the picture of Corinne with her boss, Victor (Erik Athavale), why didn’t he ask her if she was seeing someone instead of assuming Victor was her boyfriend? All of this could have been cleared up with an email or a phone call or even a DM,

I’m also annoyed with Nancy’s daughter, Tracy (Sarah Luby). She looks like she’s 25 but she talks like she’s 15. Not only is she using outdated slang, she’s also talking with his weird….it’s not really an accent but spacing of words. They could have cut her character out completely with no consequence.

Oh, and they have the Christmas movie trope of planning an entire wedding at the last minute. This time they have a whole two weeks. No one does that. Venues and bakers and florists and dressmakers all need ample time to plan their part of the ceremony. Two weeks isn’t nearly enough time. At least not for something that is supposed to be extravagant.

Beyond that, the movie is fine. Pratt and Darnell have good chemistry together. They were quite believable both as a couple and as a bitter former couple. If you decide to watch Let’s Meet Again On Christmas Eve, do it for Pratt and Darnell, not for the plot.