I just finished watching a screener for the movie Holly Star. This was a cute Christmas themed movie about finding exactly what you need in life. This was a romantic comedy but not totally over the top. There were some fine touching moments between friends and family. There were some parts of the premise that were a bit strange like the fact that Sloan (Katlyn Carlson) has to have near death experiences in order to remember some important things from her past was strange. However, it isn’t the strangest thing I’ve seen in a holiday movie before.

I’m not familiar with any of the actors in the movie and so it was good for me to get to know them as the movie went along. I loved the grandmother, (Pamela Chabora) she was what we call, A hot ticket. That woman had some major personality and offered some very funny parts to the movie. I also liked Sloan’s best friend Kay K (Teya Patt) this woman who took her role as a paintball employee way too seriously, but was a solid friend to Sloan.

Here’s where the story got important to me. Sloan has a friend Andy who is a seasonal friend. This means that Sloan sees Andy once a year for a few weeks and then they each go on with their lives. I grew up on Cape Cod every Summer since 1981. My parents ran a guest house and we took in all sorts of people. All the houses around were Summer rentals and I had friendships for one week at a time, one year at a time. There were friends that came in and out of my life as I grew up. I had intense friendships where we would play every day on the beach or at a pond, ride bikes and just have a great time. The kind of friends that you could just go to their house, hang out in the living room, eat their food, laugh and just have fun. As we grew, we grew apart, like Sloan and Andy. That part got me.

I loved that it was set in Maine and the way the movie was shot was beautiful from the amazing puppets that acted out parts of the story to the light and how it was shot. Look at the image at the top of the post, see the bokeh in the lights and how sharp Sloan looks. The whole movie had that feel to it and it was soft and warm like the Christmas season feels. They even featured a moment with Whoopie Pies and that is such a Maine thing. Some of the best Whoopie Pies I’ve ever gotten were from Maine.

I wasn’t sure what to expect from the movie from the trailer below. However, rewatcing it after watching the film I see the heart there. I think it was the choice of the crazy Christmas music set to the wackier parts of the film. Don’t worry, watching it you will see a worthwhile Christmas film that is very heartwarming.

HOLLY STAR, is an upcoming holiday movie from The Orchard arriving to digital and video on demand on December 4th!