Stream It Or Skip It?

The plot of Villa Amore on the Hallmark Channel is a trope at this point – an American woman, dumped the day before her wedding, goes on her Italian honeymoon alone to live her best life, and ends up buying a dilapidated villa. But there are enough charming details and supporting characters in Villa Amore that this one feels less like a cliche-ridden romance, and more of a truly feel-good hug set against a beautifully bucolic backdrop.

VILLA AMORE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A woman, Liara (Eloise Mumford), sits in her lawyer’s office waiting for her fiance to arrive so they can sign off on the house they’re planning to buy.

The Gist: Well, it turns out that the six years Liara spent with her fiance we all for nothing because instead of showing up to sign the legal paperwork for their new house, he shows up to break up with her. And so, with no wedding and no home, Liara decides that at the very least, she’ll still take her Italian honeymoon, even if she has to go solo.

Italy holds a special place for Liara, as it’s the place where her parents met while backpacking, and they always dreamed of going back to the town they fell in love with called Capena, where they wanted to buy a villa they saw there. Impulsively, Liara leaves her hotel in Rome and heads to Capena where she sees that very house her parents loved, Villa Amore, for sale for just one Euro. (One of those government sales where they practically give you a house, as long as you’ll fix it up.) Liara buys it without even reading the contract, so she doesn’t realize that she has three months to renovate the home or else she’ll face legal issues. The only reason she knows any of this information is because a kind American living in Italy, Leo (Kevin McGarry) has explained it to her. Leo’s grandmother lives in Capena, so he’s accustomed to the local ways and eventually, very reluctantly, he agrees to help Liara with her renovations.

The locals all seem cautious about Liara’s arrival – most of them aren’t thrilled to have an American in the town, but soon she ingratiates herself into their community and over the 90 day period that she renovates the house, she forms friendships with many of them. And as her house comes together, she and Leo grow closer and form a genuine bond. (Liara also forma a bond with a donkey she names Baci who has been living on the property ever since it was abandoned.) Conflict arises when Liara’s ex shows up, thinking he can win her back, but we get the satisfaction of watching her tell him off, and later when a big hotel chain makes an offer on the newly renovated villa. But ultimately, Liara realizes that her heart belongs to Leo – and the house, and the donkey – and she decides to put down roots there.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? Under the Tuscan Sun, La Dolce Villa… judging from the amount of movies there are about Americans impulsively renovating Italian country homes, you’d think this kind of thing happens to all of us.

Our Take: My first impression Villa Amore was that it was just going to be another in a long line of wanderlust-driven, “Wouldn’t it be amazing to relocate to a gorgeous country?” movies. And while it is very much that, there’s a surprising emotional element to this one that I wasn’t expecting. Liara’s mission in Italy is not to find love or even to create a perfect new home for herself; hers is a labor of love in tribute to her late father, who never got to return to Italy before his death.

In one scene where she grows emotional, she starts to cry when she tells Leo that she wishes she had running water so she could bathe and wash her hair, and then, the real reason she’s crying pours out of her, “I just want my dad back,” she sobs. Leo, who is also secretly in the midst of a personal crossroads, talks her down by using the tools he himself uses to ease his panic attacks. It’s a surprisingly intimate moment where each of them is exposing themselves at their most vulnerable in a very raw way, which feels a little deeper than most Hallmark fare.

As part of the network’s Passport to Love collection of movies, Villa Amore is an excuse to film a sweet romance at a gorgeous location, but it’s got so much more going for it. The added character development of the main characters, not to mention the fact that it also has an added dopamine hit that home makeover shows offer thanks to Liara’s ongoing renovation, all help make it a truly romantic, satisfying film you won’t want to miss.

Parting Shot: Leo tells Liara, “I love this villa, I love your fountain, I love your olive oil, I love my new job, I even love Baci. But I love you most of all.” And then he gives her a kiss.

Performance Worth Watching: Baci the donkey, of course.

Memorable Dialogue: As Liara speaks to the Italian hotel developer who wants to buy the villa from her – he makes a generous offer she almost can’t refuse – he tells her, “But, of course, we gonna have to 86 that donkey.” And that’s a dealbreaker for Liara. No one lays a finger on the donkey.

Our Call: STREAM IT! Villa Amore is full of feel-good charm and warmth, the next best thing to falling in love in Italy yourself.

Liz Kocan is a pop culture writer living in Massachusetts. Her biggest claim to fame is the time she won on the game show Chain Reaction.