Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Mystery on Mistletoe Lane’ on Hallmark Movies & Mysteries, Which Deck-tectives The Halls(mark) With Bouts Of Jolly

Mystery on Mistletoe Lane kicks off the fourth week of Hallmark’s 2023 holiday movie lineup by bringing a little bit of, well, mystery to the merry proceedings. Erica Cerra and Victor Webster star in this holiday whodunit, except instead of a murder, the “it” is “leave a trail of clues and little reindeer figurines hidden throughout a palatial estate that was once dubbed Mistletoe Manor.” Does this mystery vibe jive well with the holiday cheer we want from Hallmark? Or should Hallmark have left the clues alone and focused on a romance?

MYSTERY ON MISTLETOE LANE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Erica Cerra (Nancy Drew) plays Heidi Wicks, the new historical society director for cozy New England town New Hollow. She’s just relocated from North Carolina with her two kids just in time to spruce up the historical center for the holidays. Her family also took up the historical society’s offer to move into a historical home, a home that the previous director steered clear of. Oh — and the previous director David (Workin’ Moms’ Victor Webster) is still hanging around doing handyman work for the historical society. That’s not an awkward working arrangement at all!

Then a pair of discoveries rock Heidi’s status quo and give her kids a surprise mystery to solve. First, Heidi learns that she’s actually moved into Mistletoe Manor, a house that once upon a time lit up New Hollow like it was Rockefeller Center. As for her kids, who are not too pleased about this December move, they discover that there are reindeer figurines hidden throughout the manor that are paired with tiny scrolls that contain clues to the other figurines. Suddenly moving to this tiny town doesn’t seem so dull, does it?

With her job potentially on the line thanks to a real scrooge of a deputy mayor, Heidi sets out to resurrect Mistletoe Manor to its early 20th century glamour while her kids try to uncover the the secrets contained in the manor’s walls — literally.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Like The Cases of Mystery Lane and The Jane Mysteries before it, Mystery on Mistletoe Lane feels like a solid start to another potential franchise for Hallmark Movies & Mysteries.

Performance Worth Watching: I was impressed by Juliette Hawk (A Winning Team) and Logan Pierce (The Last of Us), who play Heidi’s kids Annie and Garrett. They’re well cast as siblings, and they actually carry a significant portion of the movie as two junior sleuths. If anything, I would have liked to have seen more of their mystery-solving skills.

Memorable Dialogue: “This house just seems more Halloween than Christmas.” Yes, yes it does — and that’s one of the things that makes Mystery on Mistletoe Lane feel different from the rest of the Hallmark lineup.

A Holiday Tradition: In addition to resurrecting the old Mistletoe Manor tradition, Heidi is also committed to bringing something new to New Hollow: a Tribute Tree wherein locals can place ornaments dedicated to their lost loved ones.

Does the Title Make Any Sense?: While the Wicks family does move to Mistletoe Lane, the movie is way, way more concerned with the house than the street. I had to rewind to even make sure that Mistletoe Lane was their actual address. Instead, the movie should be called Mystery in Mistletoe Manor.

Our Take: I’ll say it: finally! It is well past time that Hallmark incorporated its most recognizable genre in its holiday lineup. We get dozens of romances and emotional dramas every year, but what about the mysteries? Mystery on Mistletoe Lane feels like the answer to a question I didn’t know I needed to ask. Hallmark Movies & Mysteries airs movies starring amateur sleuths all year long, so why do they have to stop when the countdown to Christmas begins?

Fortunately, Mystery on Mistletoe Lane delivers the same kind of cozy mystery that the network has perfected over the year, this time infused with the holiday spirit. The mix of dark basements and sudden gusts of wind works well with Hallmark’s usual abundance of merry aesthetics, as Christmas has always had a spooky undercurrent. Just look at Dickens or the lyrics of Mr. Andy Williams (“there’ll be scary ghost stories and tales of the glories of Christmases long, long ago“). It’s about time Hallmark brought a little bit of chill to their winter movies.

In fact, that’s the only area where Mystery on Mistletoe Lane fumbles a bit. While I don’t know if Hallmark could have or should have gone for a holiday movie with a body count, I do think that the movie could have leaned more into the spookiness. The family’s living in a long abandoned historical manor, after all. Give me some floorboard creaks or branches scratching against a window! As it is, there’s enough of those vibes to make Mystery on Mistletoe Lane feel like a step in the right direction, and I hope we get more holiday mystery movies in the future — perhaps even ones set in New Hollow — that really make use of the juxtaposition of bright, bright lights shining through the darkest, coldest nights of the year.

Our Call: STREAM IT. While Mystery on Mistletoe Lane is just so-so as a straightforward romance, it makes for a fine start to what will hopefully be Hallmark’s first holiday mystery movie series.