“This is very…um… It’s just… It’s very weird.” [I mean…fair.]

Genre: Netflix Holiday Cheeseballs
Release Date: 2024
New Holiday Spirit or Ghost of Christmas Past?: New!
Where I Watched: Netflix. Obviously.

Synopsis: Kathy has been distancing herself from everyone and everything since she lost her husband. But the residents of Hope Springs have decided that this widow needs to jump back into life again. So when Kathy decides to drape her new red scarf around a snowman that looks like Michelangelo’s David? Christmas magic gets to work. *sings Frosty the Snowman*

Worth the Eggnog?: Oh c’mon. You know you wanna watch this. It’s premise is absolute balderdash, the lead actor looks like his cheekbones could cut icicles, and Holiday Queen Lacey Chabert is in the house! Frosty knows exactly what it is, and revels in it’s silly, cheesy goodness. Even Chabert said she had to fight to keep a straight face. Though how “snowman” Dustin Milligan was able to keep a straight face is the real question here. 

Frosty‘s cast is filled with holiday-romance film regulars, and comedians help create a lovely balance of sweet and silly.  Chabert and Lauren Holly (playing a revved up neighbor) doing their holiday best, with lots of doe-eyed looks (on Chabert’s part) and oh-my-goodness-es (on Holly’s), you’ll quickly fall into the holiday rom-com vibe. Then there’s Joe Lo Truglio and Craig Robinson as the town’s police department, with Robinson as the megalomaniacal Sherriff who’s looking for something – anything – to make his day-to-day life in his small town a bit more interesting. FYI: the end credits have these two riffing a COPS-esque holiday carol, and their ability to improv is amazing.

Director Jerry Ciccoritti’s work on Schitt’s Creek definitely shows; his ability to blend absurdist humor and poignancy is showcased well here. I mean damn; Kathy isn’t sure she can love anyone else, because she’s not sure if she can love herself after her husband’s death. Later, Jack tells Kathy that he knows who her second true love should be. “It’s You.” Oh my God, that’s unexpectedly good. Yes, I am a soft touch. Thank you for noticing. Still, the idea that a rom-com can focus on the leading lady’s need to care for herself before caring for a man? Now that’s a nice message.

But wait, there’s more! As with many of Netflix’s recent holiday films, there’s a shout-out to our beloved A Christmas Prince, when Kathy says “sure, right – and I’m the queen of Aldovia.” THIS IS NOT A DRILL. Plus, there’s a clip of Jennifer Coolidge in Single All the Way, when Jack is binging TV. Heck, there’s even a quick clip of one of Lindsay Lohan’s Netflix romp Falling for Christmas on Kathy’s TV…and when Kathy sees it, she says “that is so funny. That looks just like a girl I went to high school with.” Honey, they know their audience here in Frosty, and they leeeeeeean in. But it never feels pandering, just delightful. And brief. Ciccoritti knows how to give us just a tantalizing taste of other things. There are several creators who could take a page or ten out of his book.

With so much intentional camp and a story that’s paint-by-the-numbers even when those numbers add up to a hunky snowman? This might not make it to my top five holiday re-watches for me, as I have a tradition and stuff. I have to have the Prince films (that count as one movie, naturally), 1970’s Scrooge, A Bad Mom’s Christmas, Violent Night, and A Muppet Christmas Carol front and center – but Frosty is definitely a holiday story that I’d most likely pop on when my faves are through. Especially as it’s officially part of the Prince franchise, aka the Netflix Christmas Universe. Gotta rep Aldovia, y’all! Now if you’ll excuse me, I’m off to crochet an overlong, fluffy red scarf. For reasons.

Score: 4 out of 5 Hos.