A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS

Name: A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS
Item: A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS
Author: Tess Farrand

"Some Occasional Negativity for Christmas"

Family Content: -1 Caution advised for older children, including teenagers, and sensitive adults.

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

In the Netflix movie A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS, acclaimed novelist Sophie Brown needs an escape from her reality after releasing her latest book, where she kills off the main character. So, she travels to Scotland to see a castle, Dun Dunbar, where her father worked in his youth. There, she meets the owner of the castle, a duke named Myles, who reluctantly agrees to partner with Sophie to get the castle out of a financial rut. However, when Myles and Sophie start to fall for each other, it complicates things.

A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS is a typical holiday movie with equal parts predictability and fun twists, plus appealing performances by the two leads, Brooke Shields and Cary Ewes. The movie has a strong Romantic worldview. This is mitigated by some moral content promoting a healthy mother-daughter relationship, hospitality and companionship. As Christmas draws near, there are some positive Christian elements. However, A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS contains an implied sex scene, brief foul language and a brief reference to a man being married to another man. So, MOVIEGUIDE® advises caution for older children.

Content:

(RoRo, B, C, Ho, L, V, S, N, A, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Strong Romantic worldview as a character flees her troubles to travel and reconnect with her family ties abroad in Scotland and finds love in the meantime, multiple mentions of the idea of love at first sight, but there are some moral elements that a healthy portrayal of a mother-daughter dynamic, hospitality and companionship, and some Christian elements as the Christmas holiday draws near in the movie, but there’s a scene where’s there’s implied fornication during “Angels We Have Heard on High” and there’s a quick mention of a man being married to another man

Foul Language:

An “h” word, one a**, one light OMG profanity, some British slang such as blood an buggers

Violence:

Novelist threatens the wellbeing of her male character’s safety, man shoots skeet and accidentally throws a snowball in a woman’s face

Sex:

Implied fornication and a couple kisses

Nudity:

Man appears in bathtub, but no private parts shown

Alcohol Use:

Scene at a pub and social drinking

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

Mention of divorce, name-calling and lying.

More Detail:

In A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS, acclaimed novelist Sophie Brown needs an escape from her reality in the wake of releasing her latest book where she kills off the main character. So, she travels to Scotland to see a castle, Dun Dunbar, that her father worked at in his youth and spoke about to Sophie.

Once Sophie arrives overseas, she feels right at home with the beautiful countryside and homey inn. Soon after, she gets a tour of the castle from a man named Myles who she assumes works on the property. Turns out though, Myles is a duke and owns the castle, which is in grave financial trouble.

Ever the problem solver, Sophie offers to buy part of the castle. This way she can help Myles and hide out to write her next best-selling book. To Myles’s surprise, Sophie’s being at the castle might help bring in tourists who are familiar with her catalog of work. Also, the two start to form a romantic connection that they both try to push under the rug.

Sophie has a bright idea to throw a Christmas party at Dun Dunbar with the hopes that it will bring the community together and draw acclaim for the castle in general. While prepping for the event, Myles and Sophie get a Christmas tree, decorate the grounds and get to know one another better, finally culminating in expressing how they feel about each other. However, when Sophie suggests she should stay in Scotland long-term, Myles pushes her away on the cusp of the Christmas Eve party.

Will Sophie and Myles reconcile in time to celebrate Christmas? Will Sophie put a dent in her new book?

Cary Elwes (THE PRINCESS BRIDE) and Brooke Shields make a good duo in A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS. The movie is a typical holiday movie with equal parts predictability and fun twists. The movie is especially fun if viewers are fans of travel, Shields and Elwes. However, the movie doesn’t quite land a four-star production quality. It feels too much like a TV movie with some melodramatic dialogue and cheesy flashback montage about the lead characters falling in love. For avid Christmas movie watchers, though, this shouldn’t deter them from enjoying the movie.

A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS has a strong dominant Romantic worldview. The protagonist looks to escape her reality and travel, all while finding love in the process. The movie also contains some moral elements, which include a healthy portrayal of a mother-daughter dynamic. The story also promotes hospitality and companionship. As the Christmas holiday draws near in the movie, there are some positive Christian references. However, there’s a scene where’s there’s implied fornication during “Angels We Have Heard on High,” plus brief foul language and a brief reference to a man being married to another man. So, MOVIEGUIDE® suggests caution for older children.

Watch A CASTLE FOR CHRISTMAS →

Quality:

- Content: -1