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Stream It or Skip It?

Scentsational Christmas is a new holiday movie on Lifetime devoted to the art of candle-making. We’re not talking about mass-produced scent stories, either. This movie shows how rewarding — and even romantic — the traditional candle-making process can be. But is it worth leaving a light on for Scentsational Christmas? Or is this holiday movie best left in the dark?

The Gist: Nazneen Contractor plays Ellie, an up-and-coming perfumer who’s hoping that her latest scent creation will land her a gig in Paris. In the meantime, she heads back home to New Hampshire to spend the holidays with her father Jamar (Sugith Varughese). This is the first Christmas after the loss of her mother, and Ellie fears her dad is struggling to keep the family candle company afloat. Her fears aren’t assuaged by the fact that her dad’s opened up their home as an Airbnb — and the first guest is a handsome reporter named Logan (Mykee Selkin).

After seeing the dire straits that her dad is in, Ellie decides to pitch in and help him increase sales of their Christmas candle — well, she will if she can first figure out the formula for the Christmas candle. The quest for the missing ingredient brings Ellie and Logan closer together, especially when the quest becomes more about Ellie’s family history. But will Ellie like the answers she finds — and what about that job in Paris?!

Scentsational Christmas
Photo: Lifetime

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The film’s devotion to a single artisanal craft reminds me of one of Lifetime’s holiday movies from last year, An Ice Wine Christmas. And if you’ve been watching this year’s holiday offerings, then the “dad can’t keep family business afloat after mom died” plot will remind you of… just so many movies.

Performance Worth Watching: Sugith Varughese is getting a lot of practice playing grieving dads, between this movie and the one below (A Gingerbread Christmas). It’s no wonder why he keeps getting these parts, either. He’s really good at it! He brings a lot of honest emotional heft to his scenes.

Scentsational Christmas - dad
Photo: Lifetime

Memorable Dialogue: Here’s what most conversations sound like in Scentsational Christmas:

Ellie: My mom used to say that candles are a reflection of ourselves. The wax is the body, the wick is the mind, and together they give home to the flame, the spark of life. And the heart, the heart is the candle’s love.

Logan: And that’s how it defies darkness.

Ellie: And how it stands the test of time.

A Holiday Tradition: Ellie’s family sell Christmas candles every year, but that won’t happen this year if she doesn’t find the formula. There’s also a wassailing event at the local tavern, which might just be the first time I’ve actually seen wassailing in one of these movies — and apparently wassailing is just getting drunk and singing?

Two Turtle Doves: If you want another movie about a father played by Sugith Varughese trying desperately to keep the family business afloat after the passing of his wife, and then he gets help from his daughter when she returns home from the big city job that took her away from the family business, you can watch A Gingerbread Christmas on Discovery+.

Does the Title Make Any Sense?: Holiday movies love their pun titles, but this one really does not match the vibe. Scentsational Christmas is a holiday romance drama and the next-level goofy title really misrepresents the movie’s tone. The original title was actually A Candlelit Christmas, and that pairs better with what this movie is giving.

Scentsational Christmas - candle making
Photo: Lifetime

Our Take: Much is said about the holiday romcom, but the holiday drama/mystery is just as much part of the season. These are the movies wherein the lead couple bond not only over a meet-cute and some light personal tension, but also via their attempts to solve a mystery of some sort — almost always one dealing with one of their family histories.

That’s what you’re getting with Scentsational Christmas, as Ellie and Logan team up to find out if her ancestors were the fabled couple in one of the town’s pieces of Christmas lore. Ultimately, it’s not as exciting as it sounds. Logan says a number of times that this story is the greatest romance ever told, but it’s just a little tale about a groom who lost his way in a snowstorm and the bride who made candles to light his way back home. We easily strain belief while watching these kinds of movies, but calling them the greatest Christmas couple of all time just makes me think, “Sure, Jan.”

But that’s the overall problem with Scentsational Christmas; it’s trying to be grander than it is. The script is overly flowery, using every candle metaphor imaginable (“That’s the thing about candles: they burn out”). Regarding the direction, numerous shots are framed with excessive amounts of negative space, as if this Lifetime movie was going for a Mr. Robot vibe. You gotta commend them for trying something new, but it ends up being distracting the few times it happens.

Scentsational Christmas - shot composition
Photo: Lifetime

As over-the-top as the dialogue and direction are at times, the performances remain even-keeled. Contractor and Selkin do a fine job as a holiday movie couple— especially Contractor, who plays the straight-laced, Scully role with lots of confidence and conviction. Selkin’s reporter character is less developed, meaning he’s the stock “perfect for 98% of the movie until he makes one mistake” love interest.

There’s definitely a place for Scentsational Christmas — and Christmas romance/drama/mysteries in general — in the year’s holiday lineup. But in order to really work, I think that the seriousness that sets this apart from the average holiday romcom should probably be placed more on the characters’ personalities and their dynamic and less on a clever script and inventive direction. We gotta feel it, and unfortunately Scentsational Christmas doesn’t ignite all the senses.

Our Call:  SKIP IT, and maybe watch A Gingerbread Christmas on Discovery+ instead.

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