Holiday Road
Christmas road trip!
Stranded at the airport, nine strangers decide to road trip to their shared destination (Denver) together, rather than wait out the storm that has thwarted their Christmas travel plans.
Loosely based on the true story of 4 strangers in a similar position, in this case Hallmark has supersized it to tell the tale of nine people on the unanticipated road trip #vanclan. Fortunately for them all, along for the ride is a TikTok influencer who insists on 1 - decorating the van with random Christmas decor she had packed, and 2 - documenting their trip.
Within a few hours of their planned 18-hour drive, the constant live streaming of their journey has resulted in #vanclan going viral to the point they’re recognized in a small town diner.
But seriously - if you’re on an 18-hour drive with multiple capable adult drivers, are you really going to stop for a full sit-down lunch a few hours into your trip, or are you going to just power through?
And who would want a TikTokker live streaming every other minute of an 18+-hour drive where a bunch of strangers are in tight quarters?!? No thank you.
Anyway, this doesn't really work as a “Christmas movie,” despite some Christmassy scenes. As an example of strangers boding and finding their common ground, it’s ok. But with 9 characters to follow, that’s a big ask for a 90-minute movie.
Ho hum. Next.
Classic Christmas movie tropes:
Christmas competitions (Elf games)
Dressing up as elves
You’ll like this if…
Why would someone like this?
SCORE: 4/10
Tell me more!
When bad weather leaves each of them stranded at the airport for the holidays, a tech entrepreneur (Christie), a travel writer (Canning), a devoted mother (Enid-Raye Adams) and her son (Kiefer O’Reilly), a stubborn senior (Trevor Lerner), an enigmatic woman with a hint of mystery (Brittany Willacy), a couple traveling from Hong Kong (Sharon Crandall, Ryan Mah) and a social media influencer (Princess Davis) all agree to rent a shared van to embark on a road trip to Denver. When their unexpected journey brings them into uncharted territory, they navigate a series of misadventures together and form a deeper bond that just might change the trajectories of each of their lives. Inspired by true events. Starring Sara Canning and Warren Christie.
