Spoiler Alert: This summary and review contains spoilers.
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Christmas is coming early, and neverminding Halloween and Thanksgiving, with this cute film that surprisingly isn’t a Netflix release.
| Director(s) | Michelle Johnston | |
| Screenplay By | Michelle Johnston | |
| Date Released (VoD) | 10/15/2019 | |
| Genre(s) | Holiday, Musical, Comedy | |
| Good If You Like | Holiday Films Which, For The Most Part, Are Kid Appropriate | |
| Noted Cast | ||
| Katherine (Kat) | Laura Marano | |
| Deirdra | Jonhannah Newmarch | |
| Grace | Chanelle Peloso | |
| Joy | Lillian Doucet-Roche | |
| Terrence | Barclay Hope | |
| Dominic (Nick) | Gregg Sulkin | |
| Isla | Isabella Gomez | |
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Plot Summary/ Review
Kat isn’t your traditional orphan. Yes, her mother and father are dead, but she isn’t in foster care or adopted. Rather, going with the Cinderella foundation, she lives with her stepmother and sisters. Three people who are quite cruel to her, for merely existing, if not being born into what they believe they deserve to have.
But, with four months until she is 18, and will then get her inheritance, Kat bides her time as her stepmom, Deirdra, and step sisters Grace and Joy, make her life hell and try to take everything away from her. However, there are a few things they are unable to snatch. Her dignity, her songwriting abilities, her voice, and her job. One she shares with best friend Isla and eventually a young man named Nick.
As you can imagine, this young man plays the prince character, though in this case, he is just rich, and between him and his family, Nick provides both hope for Kat and, temporarily, adds to her troubles.
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Question(s) Left Unanswered
- How did Deirdra snag Kat’s father?
Highlights
The Music
Surprisingly, this entry into the A Cinderella Story features music which is quite catchy. The kind you wouldn’t mind having on a soundtrack or playlist playing in rotation for the next two to three months.
The Protagonist Are Liable And Villains You Want To See Punched In The Face
When it comes to the story, there isn’t really much to say since the film has slight innuendo, that will go over kids’ heads, but is tame. However, the investment you’ll have in Kat, and the outright hatred you’ll have for Joy and Deirdra, it will make you hope they lost more than Kat by the end of the film. For the way Marano plays her doesn’t present this “Woe is me” type of person. She clearly is unhappy, but there is some feign hope that you want to see realized. Which makes Deirdra trying to crush that over and over, for reasons you are left to guess why, annoying, then frustrating, to eventually so infuriating you’ll want some form of violence. Even if it is just Deirdra and Joy, not so much Grace since she seems too simple to understand what she’s doing, to at least be thrown outside and landing on their faces.
Low Point(s)
You Don’t Get That Cathartic Release You Want
Unfortunately, though, a cathartic release of that level isn’t given. Heck, if you got as emotionally into it as I did, what little of a comeuppance given may seem like nowhere near enough considering all that was done. Yet, you gotta remember, this was made for kids, maybe tweens, so for the adults watching, you’ll just have to deal with the silver lining of a bad situation Kat was long in.
A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish Overall: Mixed (Divisive)
A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish does what it is expected to do. It’s cute, has a lead you can easily latch onto, an instantly hateable villain, with no real dimensions, and the only expected bonus is enjoyable music. However, this isn’t a Christmas classic, and I can’t say, beyond the soundtrack, anything from this film may live on weeks, or even months from now. Hence the mixed label
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A Cinderella Story: Christmas Wish Ending Explained, Recapped and Spoiled
Long story short, Deirdra was once a dancer and likely, during his travels, after Kat’s mom died, around a decade ago, Kat’s father Jason found her and fell in love. However, what Kat didn’t know, or remember, was that her unofficial godfather was billionaire Terrence Wintergarden. Someone who, upon moving to the town Terrence lives in, Deirdra sets her eyes on. Especially considering their Jason connection, in her mind, being her way in, since Terrence is a widow as well.
What she didn’t account for, however, is Kat and Dominic, aka Nick, meeting up at her job working as an elf. Never mind them hitting it off and falling for one another. This complicates things for Deirdra’s oldest, Joy, has a thing for Nick, though more so his status and money, and seemingly was going to be Deirdra’s back up plan in case she couldn’t get Terrence.
However, despite Deirdra destroying the invitation Nick gave Kat, and giving away the gown Isla made for Kat, she shows up, shows out, and exposes her stepmom. Leading to Deirdra, and her girls, being thrown out of the gala Terrence hosts for the holidays and him deciding, upon hearing Deirdra spent all of Kat’s inheritance, to fund her lifestyle and burgeoning career like she was one of his kids.
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Is A Sequel Possible?
For this specific story? We could. There could be a “One Year Later” story done showing Kat having troubles, even after a year, dealing with not really having a family for Christmas, beyond friends, and maybe trying to find a way to forgive Deirdra and her daughters. If not show her happy and prepping to launch her first-holiday album and the film dealing with all that comes from doing so and her having some rival.
Neither idea is necessarily good, but it isn’t like this film aimed to be a classic.
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