What if you spent this holiday under a blanket and with a good hot chocolate? Ever since October 15, Christmas TV movies, like every year, flood our screens morning, noon and night, to the delight of some and to the great dismay of others. Among several new TV movies on offer this year – so far, exclusively on TF1 – one of them, which will be broadcast this Wednesday 1 November at 3.40pm on TF1, stands out from the rest for a number of reasons.
Titled Christmas on the Farm, this TV movie from Australia invites us to learn the story of Amy, an Australian author who now lives in the United States, lonely and in need of inspiration. In order to sign her first big contract and save the farm where she grew up, Amy decides to take inspiration from the diary of her recently deceased mother, Clementine. What Amy doesn’t know is that her lies have led her to have a publisher come to her mother’s farm for Christmas and appear to her, with the help of her cousins David (Hugh Sheridan) and Miles (Nicholas Browne). That mother and daughter were very different, Amy was afraid of the slightest spider, while mother loved nature.
The former Unforgettable star brings this LGBT-friendly Christmas story
And Emmy was cast as the main character… Poppy Montgomery! TF1 audiences are already familiar with the Australian actor as he starred in the American series Unforgettable (broadcast on TF1) for four seasons between 2011 and 2016. The choice isn’t as surprising as we might have forgotten, but Poppy Montgomery has already starred in a Christmas TV movie in the past, namely Passions sous la neige in 2010.
But seeing Poppy Montgomery back on our screens isn’t the only good reason to watch Christmas on the Farm. Also note that two of the supporting characters in the TV movie are gay. David and Miles, rather, are portrayed as a husband and wife full of humor and generosity. A seemingly banal representation in fiction, but one that is rare in Christmas TV movies, heterosexual love stories are regularly criticized for their pride.
Last year, only three Christmas TV movies (Christmas, You and Me, Duel Christmas at the Mitchells) were among the thirty-odd new movies offered by TF1. None on other channels. One of them, A Hell of a Christmas, also had a famous actress in the form of Fran Drescher, aka “One Hell of a Nanny.”
Source: Allocine
Rose James is a Gossipify movie and series reviewer known for her in-depth analysis and unique perspective on the latest releases. With a background in film studies, she provides engaging and informative reviews, and keeps readers up to date with industry trends and emerging talents.
