Following Yonder Star is a Hallmark romance movie that finds inspiration in the Biblical Star of Bethlehem as it follows an actress who finds her way toward love and self-discovery on a journey to a New England small town. Brooke D’Orsay and John Brotherton return to the Hallmark Channel to lead the way as the main couple. But will these lovers find that being star-crossed (or starstruck) gets in the way of their own happy ending?
FOLLOWING YONDER STAR: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?
The Gist: Abby Fontaine starred as the inspirational TV mother on the show Guiding Grace for a long 14 seasons. However, ever since it ended two years ago, Abby has felt lost, especially when constantly compared to her perfect character and always falling short. When her ex-husband calls to share the news he is both getting married and expecting a child with a new woman, Abby is stunned, especially since he never wanted children when they were married, while she has always desired a family of her own. Still in shock, Abby snaps at a fan who keeps treating her as if she’s her old TV character, Gabriella, and her public meltdown goes viral, potentially hurting her next career opportunity.
Desperate to escape the scrutiny and stress in Los Angeles, Abby escapes to the small Vermont town of Pine Ridge for the holidays. But when Abby gets to the local five-star hotel only to find out from the kind front desk worker, Clara (Melissa Murray-Mutch), that she made a reservation for the wrong year, Abby is ready to throw in the towel and go home to LA. Clara, however, works part-time at the nearby Maguire Inn and tells Abby they have one more room available. Since her next role is supposed to be a mystery-solving innkeeper (but still a cookie-baking mom, of course!), Abby and her agent figure this could be a chance to at least do some research for the gig.
What Abby doesn’t see coming is the inn’s owner, Nick Maguire (John Brotherton), a widower and single father who also works as a school teacher on the side. He immediately recognizes Abby’s face and is starstruck because his late wife, Natalie, used to be a huge fan of her and Guiding Grace. When Abby steps in to help Nick co-direct the town’s Christmas pageant, the two grow closer, especially after Abby bonds with Nick’s daughter, Lucy (Isla Verot). But Nick’s sister-in-law, Zoe (Amanda Austin), is suspicious of Abby and her intentions, especially in the wake of her scandal, and she doesn’t want to see her loved ones get hurt by a fading star’s fleeting presence. Can Abby earn Zoe’s approval and prove that she’s here to stay for Nick and Lucy, or will Abby’s life and work in LA come calling to make this happy new sense of belonging and community all fall apart?
What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Much like Following Yonder Star, the 2022 Lindsay Lohan-led rom-com Falling for Christmas features a well-known woman who unexpectedly finds love with an inn-owning single dad over the holidays.
Performance Worth Watching: Melissa Murray-Mutch stands out as the generous and hard-working Clara, giving a performance that radiates ease and competence whenever she’s onscreen.
Child actor Naomi Rubel Lifshits was also very entertaining as a dedicated theater kid in Nick’s Christmas pageant named Eloise thanks to her memorable line readings and great comedic timing.
Memorable Dialogue: “Sorry folks, unless you’re praying, you ain’t staying.” Clara is the MVP of this movie, I swear.
Honorable mention for Zoe’s “I mean, she’s a good actress but she’s not that good.”
A Holiday Tradition: Abby doesn’t have any Christmas traditions so she joins in with the Maguires for theirs, which include tree decorating, making festive cookies, attending the annual Masquerade Ball, and helping Nick direct the town Christmas pageant.
Does the Title Make Any Sense?: Following Yonder Star makes sense, as it’s not only a reference to the Star of Bethlehem that led the Magi to Jesus, but it also refers to Abby, an acting star who we’re following in her journey towards self-discovery and true love.
Our Take: To me, Following Yonder Star reads less like a sweet and escapist holiday romantic-comedy and more like wish-fulfillment fanfiction that Nick wrote about his favorite actress to cure his loneliness. That guy was kind of a walking red flag for me and I couldn’t get on board with him, making this entire romance very difficult to buy. As soon as he recognized Abby, he started fanboying to the point of ridiculous clumsiness and being starstruck. Like sir, you are a grown man and a father, please act like it!
Nick immediately puts Abby on a pedestal and seems to even make her initially uncomfortable until he overshares about his late wife on the same day he meets Abby, which suddenly softens her attitude towards Nick and starts pulling her in. As they grow closer, it feels like he continues to look at her through the rose-colored glasses of her beloved character Gabriella, which feels so ironic considering a guy confusing the real Abby and her fictional character is what kicked off the entire movie and got Abby in trouble in the first place.
It just took the paparazzi to show up for Nick’s idealistic bubble to pop, and suddenly he doesn’t trust her anymore. Then she steps in at the Christmas pageant (way to steal the spotlight from all those kids, by the way, Abby!) he suddenly forgives her and puts her back on a pedestal. Then she seemingly gives up her acting work for him, because the only thing better than being a perfect TV wife and mom is becoming the perfect wife and mom in real life. Does this feel like the makings of a lasting and happy romantic relationship to you? There’s nothing wrong with wanting to have a family, but instead of giving up her acting career to play the role of housewife for some fanboy, maybe she could have first taken more time to find herself and be content on her own.
While there were a few cute or funny moments, especially with the Christmas pageant kids who seemingly always brought their A-Game, that wasn’t enough to sufficiently plug narrative holes or make up for some lackluster moments. For example, we get single mother Mia (Solange Sookram), a half-baked attempt at a villain with no real impact on the story or arc of her own. Following Yonder Star just seems to want the characters to be everything, so it doesn’t zero in on making them any one thing in particular, leading them all to ring pretty hollow and feel two-dimensional in the end…Well, except for that kid Eloise, now THAT is a star whose story I’d like to follow.
Our Call: We all love some good old holiday movie cheesiness, but the amount in Following Yonder Star was ultimately just a little bit more cringy than charming. SKIP IT.
The post Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Following Yonder Star’ on Hallmark, Where A Former TV Star’s Scandal Leads Her To A Vermont Inn… And The Single Father Who Owns It appeared first on Decider.
