Wedding planner Rachel (Mary Antonini) struggles during the holidays following the death of her mother. Unable to observe the traditions of the season with her sisters Caroline (Kelly Jakle) and Danielle (Kelsey Scott) due to the intense grief she feels, Rachel is pleased when social media influencer Susan (Rachel Leyco) calls her out of the blue and hires her to arrange her wedding. As preparations begin for the Christmas Day event, Susan passes over the planning to her manager Logan (Peter Porte), who is an old-flame of Rachel’s. As Logan and Rachel work together to make Susan’s dream wedding happen, unresolved feelings and past hurt resurfaces. Could they still be in love with each other?
It’s that time of the year where Christmas movies come thick and fast, and it’s important that the uninitiated know what to expect. Christmas movies are formulaic, they hit familiar beats and you always know what’s going to happen at the end – those that don’t like them will use these points as a stick to beat the genre with but those who love them, embrace the familiar. A good Christmas movie sticks to the usual structure but it manages to elevate itself thanks to the performances of the cast and its ability to hit you in the heart, even if you try your best to resist its charms.
‘Yuletide the Knot’ sits somewhere in the middle when it comes to Christmas movies. It certainly does hit all the notes you’d expect – spontaneous Broadway-like singing, old flames being forced together, past trauma impacting on the joy of Christmas – and that will keep a large part of the target audience for the film happy. We know from the minute we meet Rachel and she looks through old photos of her ex Logan, that the two of them are going to end up back in each other’s orbits and romance will likely follow. However, in this film the romance almost takes a complete backseat with the story instead focusing on Rachel’s grief over the death of her mother and her inability to move on. Her sisters are both happy and coping, her father has moved on with another women but Rachel clings to the past and refuses to process what’s happened.
Logan is used as a way to connect Rachel to a time when life was simpler, although the two has plenty of baggage to work through. By being forced together to organise a wedding, the two quickly fall back into the pattern of comfort they enjoyed when they were a couple. That makes Rachel want to retreat from the relationship while Logan is keen to see if the spark is still there after all these years. It’s this aspect of the story that I had the biggest problem with because we don’t get to spend all that much time watching Rachel and Logan’s love story reignite. Instead, the wedding and Rachel’s grief takes focus with the romance on the backburner.
Due to that creative decision, the wonderful Peter Porte is drastically under-used as Logan. Dashingly handsome, dripping with charisma and the kind of dreamboat audiences tune into these films for, Porte is a great leading man but he doesn’t get much chance to lead here. Mary Antonini carries the majority of the film, with strong support from Kelly Jakle and Kelsey Scott, but as Rachel she’s stuck in a grief loop until everything resolves as you’d expect in less than 10 minutes. The story really needed a little more time to breathe and a shit of focus at points.
‘Yuletide the Knot’ is an enjoyable watch but it’s a shame that the film’s romance aspect was dialled down so much. There is much to enjoy here, don’t get me wrong, but you don’t put Peter Porte in a film and not give him a lot to do; he’s more deserving than that. ‘Yuletide the Knot’ is like a nice glass of mulled wine and a mince pie; it’s comforting at the time but once it’s gone you’re left reaching for something to satisfy you quite soon after.
Cast: Mary Antonini, Peter Porte, Kelly Jakle, Kelsey Scott, Rachel Leyco, Celestina Harris Director: Nanea Miyata Writers: Daniel Mahler Landman & Nanea Miyata Certificate: PG Duration: 102 mins Released by: Signature Entertainment Release date: 13th November 2023
