THE TROUBLE WITH MISTLETOE

Here is an easy one to recommend. Part of Pure Flix and Great American Family's Christmas in July celebration, this is a traditional holiday romance done right — snowy landscapes, cozy small-town scenery, and a love story with a genuine ache underneath it.

What lifts it above the usual is its heart. The film carries a strong Christian worldview, honoring patience, faith, love, and hope. There's a lovely scene of a family gathered around the dinner table to pray together in Jesus' name. The romance stays clean throughout — gentle touches, hand-holding, a forehead kiss, and two brief kisses under the mistletoe by the end.

So gather the family and pour the cocoa. The one caution is minor: young viewers can be reminded that the couple is not yet married, and there's wine at dinner. Otherwise, this is exactly the kind of Christmas movie you can settle into without a second thought.

Victoria Mason (Jillian Murray) returns to her hometown of Brook Hollow with a clear assignment: track down the owner of the local community center, convince him to sell, sign the papers, and get back to New York before Christmas.

There's just one problem. The owner turns out to be Luke — her ex-fiancé, the man she left a month before their wedding because she wanted more from her career. Now she's the one who needs something from him. And Luke has plans of his own. What happens between a career in the city and a life in a small town is the whole trouble — and we'll let you discover it.

Four stars, and they're earned. What could have been a generic Christmas movie becomes something engaging and resonant, thanks to a real conflict at its core: two people whose very different lifestyles keep their love from blossoming.

The tension between the leads persists throughout, and their push-and-pull dynamic pulls powerful emotions from the audience. You'll root for Victoria's ambitions and cheer for Luke's hope of a beautiful life with the woman he loves. The film builds to a final confrontation that lands with genuine emotional force. Wrap all of that in beautiful snowy landscapes and warm small-town scenery, and you have a Christmas romance that rises above the pack.

This is a film built on solid ground. Its very strong Christian, biblical worldview beautifully emphasizes patience, faith, love, and hope — not as decoration, but as the values that shape how the characters treat one another.

Wholesome family values sit at the center, most visibly in an intentional scene where the family gathers around the dinner table to pray together in Jesus' name. That single moment tells you what the movie treasures: a household that turns to God together.

The romance itself models restraint. The affection between Victoria and Luke stays gentle and modest, honoring rather than cheapening the bond it depicts. The film's quiet lesson is that love which lasts requires patience — the willingness to wait, to hope, and to put another person ahead of your own ambition.

That's a longing Scripture knows well. Love, the Apostle Paul writes, "is patient and kind... it bears all things, believes all things, hopes all things, endures all things" (1 Corinthians 13:4, 7). This little Christmas story reaches for exactly that.

This is the rare Christmas romance that's as warm as it is clean — real emotional stakes, gorgeous snowy scenery, and a family that prays together in Jesus' name. For a cozy night in with the whole household, it's worth watching. Keep it on hand for your Christmas-in-July movie night.