You know, usually, Christmas movie titles give you a little insight into what the movie is about. A Maple Valley Christmas doesn’t really tell us anything. It’s about a family on a farm that harvests maple from trees so they make a lot of maple things. I guess they had to name it something, right?
Erica (Peyton List) has spent her whole life on her family’s farm. When the neighboring farm comes up for sale, Erica thinks they should buy the land to expand the business. Two things lie in her way - her sister, Heidi (Ella Cannon), who doesn’t want to spend the money and Aaron Davenport (Andrew Walker) whose father wants to buy the plot of land for their real estate business.
This is one of the most frustrating movies I have watched in awhile. It has all the marks of a good Christmas romance movie. Erica and Aaron make a good enough couple. Their romance seems to blossom fairly naturally. The land conflict is big enough that it could cause issues between people but not big enough that it’s catastrophic to everyone. However, what holds it back is the sheer self-centeredness of the women. Mainly Erica and Heidi.
Ina (Frances Flanagan), the family matriarch, wants to retire and go to Italy with her new boyfriend, who happens to tutor her in Italian. Erica basically throws a hissy fit at this news. How dare her mother want to spend her golden years doing something she wants to instead of wasting away on a farm simply to make her daughters happy? Since Ina is leaving the family business to Erica and Heidi, it’s Heidi’s turn to throw an unnecessary fit. Heidi absolutely refuses to even consider Erica’s plan to expand the family farm. When Erica talks to other people about it to get their ideas, Heidi complains that Erica is leaving her out. What should have been a simple conversation with everyone bringing up the pros and cons of the plan is turned into a stupid sibling rivalry. Why can’t these two think of other people for a minute?
I don’t know if I can recommend A Maple Valley Christmas. I really wanted to like it but it felt so misogynistic that it made my skin crawl. Maybe we can just forget this one exists this year.