The Christmas Aunt

I was excited to see Keshia Knight Pulliam acting as an adult, and boy she did not disappoint. Her excitement is contagious!

I was also happy to see Jarod Joseph after the awesome job he did in "The 100" series.

Not every Christmas story is the same, because everyone has a different heritage, with different traditions, and people in the U. S. come from different countries. While this movie has a familiar story line, the story itself is authentic, heartfelt, and beautiful!

For those complaining about the plot, Hallmark has made a living off of repeating story lines, usually putting actors in rolls with similar themes way too often at this point, and you've been supporting them for years!

Why can't Lifetime do a familiar story line with a twist? They're called universal themes for a reason, many can relate as it happens to almost everyone in "different ways".

We can all relate to the love of family, to holding on to true love, to cherishing traditions, and to practicing values such as service to others, the importance of the arts in human development and life, nurturing children's hearts and imagination, honoring our elders right to be happy, uniting toward the common good, etc.

Why not applaud them for being authentic when they do produce a beautiful story like this one, instead of looking for silly things to criticize?

What matters is that they represent real people, real stories, and reality regardless of how much some would like to deny it or criticize it.

I invite open minded people, who see everyone as "human beings" first and foremost, to give themselves the opportunity to watch this and other lifetime movies (especially those with minority leads and cast), and rate them in a fair, objective, and unbiased way, as it should be.

I'm very pleased with this beautiful movie, and others done this 2021 -22 holiday season, which have shown classy, and culturally diverse stories that celebrate family and love in all its forms.

Bravo to Lifetime for making a commitment to be a network that employs diverse casts and champions inclusion! Please continue to do so always, and continue making beautiful movies! Lord knows our nation needs to see our stories, our children need to see themselves represented in people who look like them, and our actors need the platform and the opportunities.

I celebrate and support them all! Bravo!

🙌💝🙌

Lifetime has outdone themselves this year lot better than Hallmark even with their 2 channels.

The story is filled with all the usual stuff. I didn't think anything set this one apart from the rest.

The lead's response to her job situation is slightly more emphatic that in most of these stories.

Finally some good acting. This one has different situations to overcome

This is a warm, sweet and wholesome Lifetime Christmas movie. The storyline was quite predictable as one expects from Christmas romance films, but it kept me engaged, for the most part (maybe a bit slow at first). There are several real sweet scenes; e.g., the scene where Rebecca (played by Keshia Knight Pulliam) sets up the exhibition for Drew (played by Jarod Joseph). The acting, overall, is good. Keshia Knight Pulliam had a very pleasant performance; her presence on screen was very warm and calm. Jarod Joseph's performance was convincing too. They had good chemistry as well, which is important for a romance film. The supporting cast was great, I enjoyed the performances by Nyla Alleyne as Maggie and Gabriel Jacob-Cross as Dan. Very cute performances indeed. I do have one critique: the writers should have known that the 12 days of Christmas start on Christmas day; they are not the days leading up to (and including) Christmas day. This is the 2nd Christmas movie I have seen this season where this mistake is made; I am surprised how many people do not know this. Finally, the scenery, props, and sets were quite festive, which added to the Christmas atmosphere. Overall, it is a nice little edition to Lifetime's Christmas movie lineup this year.