Release Date: Dec. 4, 2021, 10/9c
Movie: Our Christmas Journey
Network: Hallmark Movies & Mysteries
Starring: Holly Robinson Peete, Lyriq Bent, and Nik Sanchez
Synopsis:
As a single mom and her teenaged son with autism come to a crossroad during Christmas, she must learn to let go so he can flourish as she finds her own heart healing in unexpected ways.
Rating: ⭐⭐⭐⭐
⚠🛑 Disclaimer: This review may contain spoilers.
Review:
👏👏👏👏👏
Wow. Let me grab some tissues. What an emotional movie this one was. Definitely not your typical Christmas movie but this was one of the best this year released by Hallmark for sure.
Lena (Robinson Peete) is a single mom who's whole life revolves around caring for and raising her son Marcus, who has autism, and her daughter Mia (Hilda Martin). Lena's ex-husband Rick (Bent) books a weekend program for Marcus that could potentially help him become more independent and reluctantly Lena travels with Marcus, Mia and Lena's mother (Aloma Wright) and stays with another family who has a daughter in the same program. While Marcus adjusts to living and learning in the new program, Lena spends more time with her ex-husband. What follows is an emotional struggle of a mother's unfailing love for her children, letting go, and the rekindling of a lost love.
This movie was fantastic. I can't say enough about how they handled the ties between a mother and her child, and the struggles of letting go and realizing that your child can make their own way in life. The love story between Lena and Rick is secondary to the real love story between a mother and her son and that is ok.
Holly Robinson Peete made the movie what it was. She was fantastic. I know she herself has a child that has autism and her performance was heartfelt and real. You could see that this topic was something so close to her heart and because of this it showed in her performance and in the whole movie. Her relationship with Marcus was deep and her struggle to let go and let her son find his own way was so emotional. The countless times you saw fear, worry and love in her face...she had me in tears. You honestly just need to watch the movie to understand truly how remarkable she was in this role.
Robinson Peete wasn't the only solid performance in this movie. In fact the entire cast was phenomenal. I won't spend time commenting on all of them but need to highlight Mia. Right from the beginning you felt Mia's love for her older brother. She was a loving sister but seemed to be overlooked. She struggles with her feelings and befriends Henry whose sister is in the same program as Marcus. Through her friendship with him she finds someone who understands what it's like to have a sibling with autism. It was through him that she reveals her struggle of feeling like she was in second place and a passing thought to her parents as her brother commands the majority of their attention. People... when she admitted that to Henry and then later to her mother...tears, tears, tears. I thought she was absolutely brilliant and I could feel the emotion. The emotion of a sibling who kept something so raw hidden for so long and her struggle for feeling that way. Brilliant.
I could go on and on but I won't. This movie is great. You definitely need to watch this one.
It's authentic, raw and emotional.
Did you watch this movie? Tell me your thoughts in the comments.
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