Hallmark royalty Lacey Chabert is back this holiday season, only this time, on Netflix! “Hot Frosty” has all the cheesy and corny Christmas spirit you want in your winter rom coms, added with a bit of magic. In the classic story of “Frosty the Snowman,” Frosty comes to life when given a top hat. This movie follows the same plot-line, only with Frosty becoming human, and it has more romance than the original.
Chabert plays Kathy, a recent widow who lives in the small town of Hope Springs. She owns a diner and, of course, knows everyone by name. One of Hope Springs’s Christmas traditions is an ice sculpture contest. When Kathy is given a scarf by one of her friends to help her find love, she ends up putting it on a very buff snowman. In the middle of the night, the sculpture comes to life and accidentally streaks in the middle of town, committing breaking and entering, as well as stealing clothes.
When Kathy meets the snowman the next morning, he’s very discombobulated, as he just turned human, and she’s very concerned because no one has ever seen him before. They go to the town doctor and realize he is the snowman from the night before.
The movie goes on to show Jack—the name he chooses because it’s on his stolen coveralls—as he learns about the world through watching TV and staying with Kathy. He becomes a hit around town because of how helpful and kind he is to everyone. The middle school needs a new maintenance worker, and Jack takes the job helping set up the winter dance. All the while, the sheriff, Nate, is on the hunt for the criminal who has put an imbalance on the law in his town, even though affected individuals have moved past the incidents.
While this movie is very predictable and low stakes, it also touches on grief and losing your partner. At the start of the movie, Jack keeps telling Kathy that he loves her, and Kathy tells him that he should only say that to people he knows and cares about. She tells him about her late husband, Paul, who found out he had cancer and shortly after passed away. Her character arc is that she isn’t ready to love again because she doesn’t know who she is and how to love without Paul. Spending time with Jack, however, brings light back into her life and shows her what happiness looks like.
In classic “Frosty the Snowman” fashion, Jack doesn’t take the heat very well and he’s concerned about being another man who leaves Kathy with grief. At the end of the movie, the sheriff arrests him. (On Christmas Eve—the nerve!) The town bands together to bail him out of jail.
While he’s in the police station, he essentially starts melting and, by the time they get him out, he’s assumed to be dead. Kathy tells him she’s falling for him and kisses him as the town walks away to return to their festivities. That’s when Jack comes back to life and calls out to Kathy. She runs up to hug him and they discover that he’s alive as a human and not a snowman.
This movie is everything you want in a Christmas rom-com. A quirky town, fun montages and meddling friends and neighbors. It’s heartfelt while also humorous, and its rewatchability is perfection. If you’re looking for a fresh take on classic Hallmark holiday movies, “Hot Frosty” is the pick for you. (And yes, Jack definitely puts the ‘hot’ in “Hot Frosty”).
Rating: 5/5 Hot Frosties