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Hallmark's 'Reunited At Christmas' Is A Holiday Dream

by Mishal Ali Zafar

Hallmark’s Christmas movies are a treat to watch over the holidays. Their latest installment, Reunited at Christmas, tells the story of family reuniting after the loss of their grandmother. From the trailer of the movie, it seems like a heartwarming story with a gorgeous backdrop. The house and neighborhood shown are impeccably decorated for the holidays, so fans are wondering, where is Reunited At Christmas set?

According to Hallmark’s synopsis, Reunited at Christmas is set in the town of Cedar Ridge, the small, picturesque town where the Murphy family’s matriarch, Nana Madeline (Beverley Breuer) once lived. The Murphy’s have been disconnected for years, so as her dying wish, their Nana Madeline requested that the family reunite at Christmas time and relive all the holiday traditions they experienced as children. So when the holiday comes around, the entire family heads to Nana Madeline’s home in Cedar Ridge to reunite at Christmas.

In the movie, Samantha Murphy (Nikki DeLoach) is a writer who’s lacking the holiday spirit, so when her publisher assigns her a new Christmas book, she has very little yuletide cheer to offer. To add to her holiday angst, Samantha’s boyfriend Simon (Mike Faiola) proposes to her with her grandmother’s ring, but after saying “yes” in the moment, she tells him that she spoke to soon. The two keep the botched proposal a secret, and head to Nana Madeline’s home in Cedar Ridge, where they are reunited with Samantha’s divorced parents Bill (Andrew Airlie) and Claire (Eileen Pedde) and her sister Annie (Lisa Durupt). From beyond the grave, it seems that Nana Madeline has plotted to thrust the family back into all their beautiful Christmas memories, hoping that the holiday will bring them to a happier, more loving place.

Executive producer and actress Nikki Deloach plays Samantha, and in an interview with TV Insider, she revealed that decorating Nana Madeline’s idyllic Cedar Ridge home in Reunited at Christmas took a lot of time and work. “We managed to find this gorgeous house but we underestimated how large the property was because we had to blanket the whole thing with snow,” Deloach explained. “There was one day we had to wait three hours for them to blanket a part of the property with snow. But if you look at the final product, wasn't it worth it?”

She told the outlet that Reunited at Christmas is different from your run-of-the-mill Hallmark holiday movies because it tells the story of a dynamic, multidimensional family. “When I pitched this idea, I wanted to have an ensemble cast and for them to be highlighted, not just the man and woman falling in love,” she said. “I felt it was really important because it speaks to the entire family. There's somebody for everybody to relate to.” She added that she hoped that the movie’s message would be heartwarming for viewers and would remind them about the "importance of family, love and second chances."

Most Hallmark holiday movies are aesthetically amazing, and the gorgeous location and set in Reunited at Christmas is no different. So alongside its heartfelt message of love and family, the movie will probably inspire you to up your holiday decor game as well. Either way, Reunited at Christmas looks like one of those classic feel-good Hallmark films that you can enjoy through the holiday season.

Reunited at Christmas premieres on Wednesday, Nov. 21 on the Hallmark Channel.

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