Stream It Or Skip It?

In Christmas Above the Clouds, the Hallmark Channel puts its own modernized spin on Charles Dickens’s classic holiday tale, A Christmas Carol. Erin Krakow stars as our workaholic, Scrooge-like protagonist who embarks on the journey of a lifetime, quite literally, as various ghosts teach her the error of her ways while she’s trapped in an airplane. Tyler Hynes also leads the way as a former flame who helps guide Krakow’s Ella back on the right path with his steadfast love, support, and goodness. It’s a fun and clever take on a tried-and-true seasonal story, so read on to hear more about why it’s worth a watch.

The Gist: Ella Neezer (Erin Krakow) is the workaholic CEO of Great Expectation Trips travel agency in New York City, and she rules her business with an iron fist. Ella is so condescending, demanding, selfish, and devoid of holiday (or seemingly any) cheer that she has unknowingly earned the nickname “Krampus” amongst her many stressed-out, underappreciated employees. Just before Christmas, she demands her team redo a project that will require them to work through the holidays while she attempts to escape the festivities altogether by embarking on a business trip to Sydney, Australia, that has her in the air through all of December 25th.

As if that wasn’t enough, Ella is also dragging her long overworked and underpaid assistant, Bobbi Cratchit (Emily Tennant), on the flight with her, making Bobbi not only miss spending Christmas with her ailing young son, Tim (Daniel Shevchuk), and the rest of her family, but also forcing Bobbi to sit at middle seat in Coach for the duration of the 20-hour flight, while Ella lives large in First Class. Luckily, Ella sees a little bit of karma bite her back in the form of an ironically extremely festive “Christmas Above the Clouds” themed flight, some in-your-face merriment from flight attendant Pip (Erik Gow), and the surprise of her neighboring seat getting filled by her ex-fiancé, Jake (Tyler Hynes).

Things are awkward between Ella and Jake, as lingering feelings are buried under old hurts. The two first fell in love around Christmastime, but ultimately broke up during the holidays years later when Ella chose to follow in the footsteps of her late mentor, Marlene Jacobson (Gabrielle Rose), by prioritizing her career over love or happiness. Now, Ella is as solitary as a person can get, pushing even her own dear older sister, Frances (Christine Chatelain), away to wallow in her own sad self-imposed loneliness in the name of supposed success.

But on this fated flight, everything will change for Ella as she’s visited by an airline safety demo-giving apparition of Marlene, as well as three eccentric spirits who will walk Ella through her Past (Faith Wright), Present (Matthew Clarke), and Future (Garfield Wilson) in hopes of making the CEO recognize and regret her various wrongs. Is there still time for Ella to rediscover a love for Christmas, reconnect with those she has cast aside in the name of misguided ambition, and right her wrongs, or will this Scrooge only see the error of her ways when it’s too late to make a change?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Naturally, Christmas Above the Clouds will remind you of A Christmas Carol, but Ella’s transformation from a disliked workaholic girl-boss to a repentant, changed woman in love is also reminiscent of The Proposal.

Performance Worth Watching: Erin Krakow is asked to do a lot of the heavy lifting in this movie, and she bears the weight well as she plays a woman through various stages of time, conveying everything from humor to romance to heartache along the way.

Memorable Dialogue: While there were multiple moments to choose from, this amusing exchange between Ella and a ghostly, airline seatbelt-covered Marlene takes the cake:

“Are those chains?”

“Forget about the chains! I’m wearing polyester! I’m literally caught dead in something I wouldn’t be caught dead in.”

“Oh, you poor thing.”

Sex and Skin: None.

Our Take: Christmas Above the Clouds is an entertaining and imaginative adaptation of A Christmas Carol, staying faithful to the core of the original 19th-century story while still keeping things interesting with a modern, slightly genderbent, high-flying twist as well as that lovable Hallmark holiday movie finishing touch. Sure, sometimes they lay things on a little thick, like with the newsie cap-donning Tiny Tim’s asthma-induced coughing fits and a hamfisted Oliver Twist stand-in’s plea of “Please, sir, can I have some more?” to ask Jake for math problems to give him for the flight, for some reason. But even so, all of the actors are so simultaneously committed and in on the joke that you can’t help but enjoy these moments anyway, cringe-factor and all.

The movie breezes by at a nice pace, carried well by our romantic leads Erin Krakow and Tyler Hynes, whose good chemistry and easy banter make them immediately feel like an engaging, balanced, and believable pair. The cast around them also shines, with stand-out moments for everyone from the extremely jolly flight attendant Pip to the affable Australian Pilot of Christmas Present to the constantly-serving-face silent Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come, injecting more vibrancy and charm into the very fabric of the film. There are plenty of laugh-out-loud moments, as well as some sweet scenes that truly tug at the heartstrings, culminating in a feel-good film imbued with the spirit (Ha!) of Christmas.

Our Call: Christmas Above the Clouds is a pleasant, funny, and creative take on a holiday classic, culminating in a charming film you’d have to be a real Scrooge not to enjoy at least a little bit. STREAM IT!

How To Watch Christmas Above The Clouds

The only way to watch Hallmark Channel live without cable is by using a live TV streaming service. We recommend DIRECTV, which comes with a five-day free trial before payment begins.

DIRECTV offers a number of flexible subscription options, including Genre Packs, so you can best choose which streaming plans fit your needs and budget. Plans start at $49.99/month.

Maddy Casale is a Chicago-based writer and comedian who covers everything from animated series to Hallmark movies. @MCasale is her handle on Duolingo.