Fran Drescher Stars in Christmas Movie Just 11 Days Before Christmas: What to Expect?

Only 11 days until Christmas! As the time to gather with family draws near, TMC offers Christmas movies every weekend to get into the holiday spirit.

This Saturday, December 14th at 10:15 AM, the network will broadcast “Hellish Christmas” starring Fran Drescher, who played the iconic Fran Fine in “The Nanny.”

A Gay Romance

Joined by his best friend Maddy, Hugo returns to spend Christmas at his mother’s home in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. He keeps running into Patrick, a young man who was in the same high school as him more than a decade ago.

Hugo and Patrick immediately feel an attraction toward each other, but Hugo’s imminent departure casts a shadow over their romance, especially since Hugo is offered a promotion that would require him to relocate to London if he accepts it. He also needs to help his mother organize a magical festival for all the residents of Carroll Avenue and save the town’s historic train station from demolition.

Worth a Watch?

Christmas movies start dominating our TV screens from November. Each year, the formula is much the same: an ambitious woman from a big city (preferably New York) finds herself in a small town that lives for Christmas.

There, she meets a handsome young man (wealthy in the best scenarios) who sweeps her off her feet and convinces her to leave everything behind to finally live happily away from the hustle and bustle of the city. Whether it’s on TF1, M6, or other TNT channels, it’s sometimes hard to find a fresh take in this tried and tested genre, which often recycles the same plots and sometimes even the same actors, year after year.

“Hellish Christmas,” airing this Tuesday, November 9th at 1:55 PM, offers something new. The novelty of this movie lies not in its plot, but in its leading couple. While Netflix has already presented us with inclusive stories like “Let It Snow,” “Hellish Christmas” is the first Christmas movie on Lifetime to feature a gay couple.

This is a breakthrough for this traditionally conservative genre that rarely places characters of color or LGBTQ+ individuals at the center of its stories. While the core of the story remains the same (a young man finding love in his hometown), the message takes a significant leap forward.

Here, there’s no coming out story, no drama surrounding sexual orientation, no plot about the “difficult” acceptance by parents or family. Both characters are already out and accepted by everyone. It’s refreshing to see that sexual preferences are a fact, not a drama.

And who better to play the match-making mother than the iconic Fran Drescher, who portrayed Fran Fine in “The Nanny” for nearly six years? The actress is one of the stars of “Hellish Christmas” (see what they did there?) and shares the screen with Ben Lewis (Arrow), who plays her son Hugo.

His love interest is portrayed by Blake Lee (the unsettling Martin Harris in “Cruel Summer”), Lee’s real-life partner and co-star. This probably explains the undeniable chemistry between the two characters…

In conclusion, while “Hellish Christmas” remains a fairly traditional festive tale, the movie manages to deliver a touching and straightforward love story that captivates us till the end and almost makes us wish for a sequel.