The holiday season is rounding down which means I’m finally almost done working through the 2023 Christmas movie schedule. It’s been an adventure and an incredibly fun one. Unsurprisingly, Hallmark has come out on top with an impressive Countdown to Christmas lineup. Not only did they churn out the most holiday movies this year, but I think they released the best one of 2023 too with Round and Round.
The Hanukkah-themed flick follows Rachel (Vic Michaelis), an assistant publisher who is excited to take her boyfriend home to meet her family for the first time and celebrate the seventh night of Hanukkah. Unfortunately, her boyfriend bails, and her day gets progressively worse when the stranger she runs into ruins the sufganiyot she’s been tasked to pick up and shows up at her family’s because he is friends with her grandmother. The real problems start though when Rachel goes to bed only to wake up on the same day. Yep! She’s caught in a time loop! Desperate to get out of it, she leans on Zach (Bryan Greenberg), the same man who keeps running into her loop after loop.
Hallmark may have prided itself on being the home of Christmas romance movies, but after watching Round and Round, I think it's safe for them to claim the title of Home of Hanukkah movies too. It’s not just the focus on the underrepresented holiday that makes this movie so great though, there are actually lots of reasons why I think it’s the best new holiday movie on the 2023 TV schedule.
Round And Round Features All The Best Tropes
Let’s be honest, holiday romances are nothing without tropes. As far as Hallmark goes, they’ve nailed the perfect Christmas movie formula, with writers penning scripts about big-city dreamers falling for small-town heroes year after year. There’s a reason it works, but sometimes it's nice to put a unique spin on what we expect and introduce a new type of trope which is exactly what Round and Round did.
Rachel and Zach don’t have a meet-cute, instead, they have a meet-ugly that sets them on the up for a dynamic enemies to friends to lovers arc that does not disappoint. With every day Rachel convinces Zach that she’s stuck in a time loop, and they get closer and closer until they eventually start falling for each other. I was glued to my seat the entire time waiting for them to realize they were each other's perfect matches.
Not only does Round and Round have the best enemies to friends to lovers trope, but it also does an incredible job revitalizing the time loop trope. I haven’t found myself this excited about watching a character re-live the same day over and over again since Andy Samberg and Cristin Milioti’s Palm Springs. While the beginning of the loop has Rachel living the exact same events over and over, as she realizes what’s going on she begins to deviate which creates hilarious and disastrous effects, making for an even more enjoyable viewing experience.
Round And Round Has A Plot Twist I Never Saw Coming
When it comes to Hallmark movies, they’re not really known for catching people by surprise. There’s a reason critics are constantly calling the flicks “too formulaic.” The cable channel tried to shake things up this year, releasing a handful of movies that set out to break the standard like The Santa Summit, but none did it as well as Round and Round. After all, it's the only holiday movie that had a twist that completely threw me for a loop.
When Rachel finally breaks free and wakes up on the eighth day of Hanukkah, she has a heart-to-heart conversation with her dad who explains that getting stuck in a loop on the seventh day of Hanukkah is a family tradition. It turns out they have a special dreidel that has been passed down for generations that helps them connect with their romantic soul mate.
Now, I knew the dreidel was what triggered the time loop, but I had no idea it was a family tradition to experience said loop. Nor did I realize that they used it especially to help them find and fall in love with their soul mate. My jaw literally dropped in the best way possible!
Most Of All, It Dared To Be Different In A Year Of Ordinary Holiday Movies
While Hallmark might have been trying to put a unique spin on their brand, the other networks and streamers stuck to their own holiday formulas. Honestly, I was a bit disappointed in this year's crop of holiday movies. Even Netflix seemed to drop the ball, releasing only one true holiday movie: the chaotic Best. Christmas. Ever.
Perhaps, the SAG-AFTRA and WGA strikes are to blame for the lack of holiday movies this year since production was halted for months. However, it doesn’t explain why the movies that were released seemed to lack holiday magic. Even the Queen of Christmas Movies herself, Lacey Chabert starred in a lackluster Hallmark movie that felt off. Don’t get me wrong, I love a good old-fashioned festive flick, but it's fun to see the boundaries pushed just a little bit. Round and Round did just that not just for the reasons above, but because it also really emphasized Hanukkah which often gets overlooked at this time of year.
Round and Round wasn’t the only Hallmark movie to do so (Never Been Chris’d, which did a lot of things right, also featured a Hanukkah plot), but it was the only one to put the Festival of Lights at the forefront of the plot. It was also the only new Hanukkah movie of the year.
I don’t personally celebrate Hanukkah, but I could feel the holiday magic from beginning to end. From the scenes with her entire family to the decorations and everything in between, Round and Round tapped into that feeling that has been missing from so many holiday movies this year.
Earlier in the month I deemed Hallmark’s Christmas in Notting Hill the best movie of the Countdown to Christmas lineup, but I think I have to knock it off the top. Not only has Round and Round truly earned the title, but it also deserves to be crowned the best holiday movie of 2023.
You can catch a replay of Round and Round on the Hallmark Channel on Friday, December 29 at 10 a.m. ET. Until then, consider checking out some of the other 2023 Hallmark movies or visit some of the best Christmas movies ever.
