Title: Absolutely Devoted to You (2026)
Actor(s) You Know:
Jesse Metcalfe (Desperate Housewives, John Tucker Must Die, Hallmark movies and tv shows), Kimberly Sustad (many Hallmark movies, of which The Nine Lives of Christmas is one), Barry W. Levy (various things; totally a Hey! It's That Guy! guy)
Plot:
Kaitlin is a segment producer for a NY morning show. Her boss tells her that Kaitlin can get 90s one-hit wonder Absolutely Yeah to perform on their end-of-the-summer show, Kaitlin will become the executive producer. Three of the four members of Absolutely Yeah are all-in, but Derrick is now working at a community center on Long Island and doesn't want to be back in the spotlight again. Meanwhile, the community center is putting on a variety show to pay for the next year's programming, because that's completely how that kind of facility gets funding. (Well, maybe now it is. /sobs/)
Trope(s):
Royalty
Alternate reality
Small town
Fake relationship
Family business getting sold/going bankrupt ✔ (Kind of; the community center will go out of business if the variety show doesn't do well)
Enemies-to-lovers
Best friends-to-lovers
Second chance
Stranded
Meet Cute:
Kaitlin tracks down Derrick in the community center, with help from his former bandmates. Kudos to her, she never tries to hide who she is or what she's doing, and she gets Derrick to say that if she helps make the variety show a hit, he'll participate in the reunion.
Rundown:
Dead parents
Montage(s)
Christmas-related name(s)
Animals
Returns to hometown
Is Santa a character?
Secretly or overtly?
Cookie baking
Tree decorating
Somebody hates Christmas
Christmas festival in a small town
A literal competition
Child plays matchmaker
All work, no romance/life
Kiss before the end of the movie
Interrupted kiss
Flashback to childhood
The leads literally run into each other
Gratuitous shirtless scene
Big Secret
Wacky misunderstanding
Just. Talk. To. Each. Other.
Someone pushing the leads together ✔
Real family = chaos / bad families = cold and not chaotic
Learns the meaning of Christmas
Stranded by snowstorm
Hot chocolate
Ice skating
D-list celebrity
Enemy-to-friend storyline
The love interest is an ex
Career change
Lying to each other
Tries to apologize, but keeps getting cut off
Christmas pageant
End with a flash-forward
Did I actually like/root for the heroine? How do the lead(s) annoy me?
I will always root for Kimberly Sustad. They had a good balance with Kaitlin; she's ambitious and good at her job, but still vulnerable. And, of course, connects with everyone. Derrick is harder to accept. He doesn't want the attention of being a celebrity, but I wanted more of a backstory, more of his motivations.
Is it in any way not completely generic?
I mean, he works at a community center trying to raise money via talent show. No.
Is the BFF actually the best? Do they need their own movie?
I 100% would watch the sequel about Sara, the morning show's costume person, who winds up dating one of the other boy band members. She and the boy band member both seem fabulous and I want to spend more time with them.
How is the romantic alternative wrong for the heroine?
N/A. No romantic alternatives for anyone.
Thoughts/Other Notes:
First of all, why did they even MAKE this movie if they weren't going to include the original 90s music video for their song (which was, I admit, a bit of a bop)? I spent the whole movie waiting for the flashback and it never came. So here's the video of "PoP Goes My Heart" from Music & Lyrics:
Anyway. The movie is fine. Sustad and Metcalfe had basically no romantic chemistry. I did like the other boy band members and the group of teenage boys Derrick works with were a good bunch. I always appreciate when characters are good at their jobs. I'm just a bit disappointed, because I felt that this movie had potential that it just didn't meet.
Rating:
🧀🧀
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