Merry Swissmas Movie Review

Merry Swissmas is Lifetime's first Christmas movie of the 2022 holiday season. Does this Switzerland themed movie have the charm to be a winner? In this Merry Swissmas movie review we'll share everything you need to know about Jodie Sweetin's new movie.

Merry Swissmas Movie Summary

Alex (Jodie Sweetin) is an architect who travels the globe designing luxury hotels. When her mother moves to Switzerland to open an Inn, Alex heads there for the holidays to visit. It's an opportunity for her to spend time with her brother, sister-in-law, and nephew. Unfortunately, Alex's mother has also invited her childhood best friend Beth. Beth is now dating Alex's ex-boyfriend Jesse and it has put a wedge in their friendship. Their mother's have brought the girls together for Christmas, hoping that they can repair their friendship.

As Alex does everything she can to avoid spending time with Beth, she ends-up spending time with Liam (Tim Rozon). Liam is the manager of her mother's Inn. He has years of experience managing hotels all around the world, but he has returned to Switzerland to raise his son Kelby and to be close to family.

As Alex and Liam spend time together we are introduced to Swiss Christmas traditions. Fun activities and celebrations that the townspeople all enjoy as a community. Since everyone in the community walks instead of drives, the two spend a lot of time together outdoors. And of course there is old fashioned outdoor fun like sledding and building snowmen.

Merry Swissmas Movie Review

I really loved the setting for this one. Of course I know that it wasn't filmed in Switzerland, but the movie does a good job of making it feel like we're there. The Merry Swissmas movie is filled with lots of Swiss Christmas traditions which I really enjoyed learning about. Of course I have no way of knowing if these are legit traditions, or not. But, to me it was nice to learn about these traditions and the history behind them.

I really enjoyed Jodie and Tim together. The pair had a very natural chemistry between them. I felt that the way their relationship developed was authentic and gradually built as the movie progressed. It all just seemed so natural to me and I really enjoyed watching them together. It was also really fun to watch them sledding, and enjoying being outside in the snow.

Merry Swissmas Movie: What I Didn't Like

There's really not a lot to pick apart in this movie, but there are a couple of things that bugged me. First, I don't really think that the storyline with Beth is needed. I mean I guess I see why they did it. They needed a reason for Alex to spend so much time away from the Inn. But I think this could have happened very naturally and the rift between the friends didn't really add much to the movie.

And this may be nitpicky, but the styling in the movie bothered me. I understand that it's supposed to be Switzerland and very cold, but that doesn't mean that they have to go around in huge parkas. On the one hand I appreciate that they tried to keep the outfits realistic and simple. However, there are plenty of cold weather outfits that don't make you look like the marshmallow man.

They actually proved this in the movie when they messed-up and had Alex go into Liam's house with one jacket on and she came out wearing another. The second jacket in that scene is the more flattering primaloft jacket style that is super warm without being bulky. This would have been a better style to use throughout the movie, but even if they didn't they should have caught their error and re-shot the scene with the wrong jacket.

I wish the movie really was shot in Switzerland. If there was authentic architecture, mountains, and scenes in the movie it would have tugged at my emotions even more. I know it probably wasn't in the budget, but that would have made this movie even better.

Merry Swissmas Movie Recap

The Merry Swissmas movie is Jodie Sweetin's second Christmas movie of the season. You can read the review for A Cozy Christmas Inn, but suffice it to say that Lifetime did a better job tapping into Jodie's talent. A Merry Swissmas has more charm, a better storyline, and a better cast than her Hallmark movie.