Sugarplummed Review: A Sweet (and Self-Aware) Christmas Treat

Sugarplummed opens with its own little Hallmark universe: a series of ads for the Sugarplum movies so convincing that I almost didn’t realize they were a part of this movie instead.

Sugarplum is a fairy-like heroine who always manages to save Christmas in Perfection (that’s the actual name of her fictional town). When Emily wishes for help for the perfect holiday on an antique star ornament, the character is drawn to the real world.

Following a literal book of rules that allow Christmas to be consistently flawless, Sugarplum helps Emily check off a list left by her late mother to give her own children and husband the kind of holiday she grew up with.

But her husband is busy with a demanding boss, her daughter wants to go to a music school her parents find impractical, Emily herself is overworked and growing cynical, and her son is frustrated by all of it. The book can only do so much.

Eventually, all the tropes are met: near disaster, fallouts with loved ones, realizations of the true meaning of Christmas, and a heartwarming reconciliation for everyone that allows Sugarplum to return to her idealized universe.

From the moment Sugarplum is beamed into the real world, her bouncy nature stands out amongst more grounded versions of Christmas spirit. In the spirit of what she represents, she doesn’t let that affect all Perfection has led her to believe.

The rule book is a particularly effective choice. Every cheesy film absurdity that has spurred countless jokes about the gene is in print here to be eagerly read out—and then deeply side-eyed by characters who exist outside of such a utopic snow globe.

This also isn’t your typical Hallmark romance. Emily and her husband are lovely together, but all the real chemistry is between Maggie Lawson and Janele Parish. The two are great together, even (and especially) when Emily and Sugarplum are bantering in exasperation.

By the second half of the movie, many of these efforts to be “meta” are set aside, and the plot does feel a little more dragged out as a result. The earnestness that was once humorously called out is embraced for our own happy ending.

Still, the plot never takes itself too seriously. Random enemies falling in love? Magic existing right when it needs to—and only then? These moments are celebrated while still being acknowledged as the blatant tropes they are.

For everything that plays out a little longer than it needs to, the very end feels a little rushed, speeding through the concert that allows Emily to recognize her daughter’s talent and sending Sugarplum back to Perfection with a couple of minutes to spare.

The question of whether she really should go back to an idealized world of rules is a genuinely interesting one that’s barely touched on before the characters hug bittersweetly and go along with it anyway. Will the in-universe Sugarplum movies be any different now?

Perhaps the door is being left open for another Sugarplummed movie that acknowledges the changes in the Sugarplum character. And as confusing as all that could be, the chemistry, heart, and wit here are enough that I’d be happy to go along with it.

 

What did you think of Sugarplummed? Share your thoughts in the comments below!

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Sugarplummed is available on the Hallmark Channel.

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