December was the one year anniversary of the release of Rekindling Christmas, and just a few days ago it was the one year anniversary of me watching it for the first and last time. 

If you didn’t go to school here two years ago and are not aware of this wreck of a movie, Rekindling Christmas was filmed in Bryan with a cast born and raised here including Ashley Atwood, Michael Patrick Lane, and Raini Rodriguez. 

If you are planning on watching it, beware of spoilers ahead. If you are not planning on wasting $4.99 to rent it or $12.99 to buy it on Amazon, then enjoy.

With a solid 6.5/10 star rating on IMDb, Rekindling Christmas follows two past lovers, Jesse and Annika, who were engaged for only one week before Jesse ran off to play in the NFL. Years later, he returns to his hometown after a knee injury. 

He runs into the one and only Annika and realizes that he wants to restart their relationship, but she is hesitant considering he left with no intent on coming back. They have no choice but to see each other as they both work at the same school. Annika, a single mother, has a son named TJ who I don’t think has any real role in the movie besides being on the side supporting his mother and Jesse’s relationship.

The movie’s pretty much like any cheesy and predictable Hallmark movie (it’s not actually a Hallmark movie because they chose not to pick it up) you could ever watch, but about halfway through there’s an odd twist that I’m not sure anyone was expecting. Throughout the movie, Jesse talks to this little girl, Lizzy, who seems to show up anytime and anywhere he needs someone to talk to. It’s already somewhat difficult to figure out the relationship between all of the characters, so adding some seemingly random little girl and giving no explanation as to who she is and how she shows up everywhere is confusing.

Then randomly towards the end of the movie, the audience learns the abrupt truth about Lizzy- she died in a car accident. If you think about it, it does explain why she shows up everywhere but it just doesn’t fit in the Christmas movie plot. It’s just a random dark piece to fit into what’s supposed to be a cheery movie about rekindling love and Christmas.

Anyways, after Jesse discovers that secret, he tells Annika, leading to her thinking he’s playing a sick joke on her and leaves her wanting to cut him off. I’m not sure exactly what he expected her to say when he told her he’s been speaking to her dead child, but he does not give up trying to win her back. 

Instead of listening to the mourning woman, he and TJ decide to attempt to convince her that Lizzy is their family’s guardian angel. Not long after that they end up in love, just like in every other cheesy and predictable Christmas movie. 

Having it filmed in Bryan was interesting. Seeing all of these familiar places not presented as they actually are was probably the weirdest part of the movie for those living here. It was especially odd for those that go to school here as Bryan High was presented as a college or some sort of workplace. 

My mom and I waited so long for this movie to come out, and even though we weren’t expecting it to be very good at all, I think it still left us confused as to how it got from point A to point B with THAT plot. I don’t regret watching it I guess, but I wouldn’t say that it’s worth the cost or time. 100% strange, confusing, and overall not a very good movie but I also kind of want a sequel……