The Christmas Aunt Review: You Can Always Go Home Again

Who isn't a sucker for childhood best friends falling in love with each other as adults?

It's one of the best tropes, and The Christmas Aunt gave it to us in all of its glory with Becca and Drew.

Aren't you thrilled those two worked through their differences and found happiness by the end of the film?

Jarod Joseph is in his element as the pining best friend. It's the same setup he had during last year's The Christmas Pact with Kyla Pratt.

And of course, Keisha Knight-Pulliam is a Lifetime Christmas Movie queen. The two of them played off of each other well, and you couldn't help counting down the seconds until they hashed out their differences.

It took some time before we got to the core of what separated the two friends. It was apparent they had a close rapport with one another, and their reconnection had the bit of awkwardness that came with an untold story.

However, it felt as if it took ages to understand what transpired between the two that contributed to them not being close friends for over a decade.

Drew always had feelings for Becca, but he didn't want to ruin their friendship. However, when he chose his college girlfriend over her when she gave him an ultimatum, he destroyed their relationship anyway.

The decision is an easy one. Any spouse who pulls that stunt where they expect you to turn your back on a perfectly wonderful friendship with someone you've known all of your life for them is not someone you need in your life.

Drew's girlfriend had a valid reason to be concerned, but in that case, she should've cut ties and got the hell out of a dodge. Forcing Drew to pick her over Rebecca didn't give her what she wanted, now did it?

All it did was postpone the inevitable, but Drew had his work cut out for him making up for a choice he made many years ago, and Rebecca's reluctance to fall back into a comfortable bliss with Drew made sense once given context.

Despite so many mishaps, it seemed everything happened for a reason to get Rebecca back in Nashville and on the path she needed.

For someone so lively and family-oriented, it's hard to believe she could work for someone like Blake in L.A.

My goodness, Blake was the worst, yes?

It's one thing to be career-oriented and focused, but it's another to inflict your way of life on someone else and treat them as if they're in the wrong for not having the same priorities as you.

If Becca was a workaholic who was at Blake's every beck and call all-year-round, and she was able to use two weeks ' worth of vacation at the end of the year, then Blake shouldn't have scoffed or called her in early.

She's entitled to spend time with her family for Christmas' sake.

Rebecca took a vacation, and Blake still expected to work for Blake. It was annoying, and poor Maggie and Dan were having a hard enough time coping with their parents being away so close to Christmas.

I don't know how Rebecca pulled it off, but her 12 Days of Christmas was such a creative and sweet idea, and she succeeded in getting the kids into the Christmas spirit.

It didn't hurt that she was able to enlist the help of Drew the entire time, and her mother was eager to contribute, too.

Every time the kids smiled, it warmed your heart, and the siblings were adorable together. It was especially nice that Maggie had clearly outgrown Santa, but she didn't mind going along with everything to make her brother happy and protect his innocence.

Maggie was just as much a good sister as Rebecca was an incredible aunt.

And I'm happy she was able to quit her job, recognizing it wasn't what she wanted, and she returned to Nashville to spend Christmas day with her niece and nephew.

By then, they could at least spend the day with their parents, who lucked up with a flight back. It would've been heartbreaking if Maggie and Dan missed out on their parents and their aunt for Christmas.

Amid the family love, Drew and Rebecca reconnecting and clearing the air with each other, and getting the kids back into the spirit, there was something else that endeared.

Pat and Tommy were the secondary love story of the film, and I could've watched an entire movie devoted to them.

Lifetime is killing it with their movies, and they continue to take so many measures to diversify them in so many different ways.

I have mentioned it before, but it'll be exciting if they include a middle-aged, second chance at love type of Christmas romance too.

At best, the 50 and older storylines serve as secondary and tertiary love stories, but for years, many of them have either usurped the main love story or come close to it.

I can't be the only one who finds myself just as if not more invested in them while watching these films.

Pam and Tommy warmed the cockles of my thawing heart. He was so enamored by her during the book club meeting. She was so tickled by Tommy's generosity and consideration.

They were so cute, and damn if I wasn't holding out for a sweet smooch between them too.

You know that their days of being neighbors at Pam's townhouse has the potential to become the two of them sharing a place of their own.

Rebecca wasn't the only one who found happiness with a lovely man who has feelings for her, Nonnie did as well. And on that note, I'll tip my spiked hot chocolate to that. A happy ending, indeed.

Over to you all! How much did you love this movie, and what would you rate it? Hit the comments below!

Jasmine Blu is a senior staff writer for TV Fanatic. She is an insomniac who spends late nights and early mornings binge-watching way too many shows and binge-drinking way too much tea. Her eclectic taste makes her an unpredictable viewer with an appreciation for complex characters, diverse representation, dynamic duos, compelling stories, and guilty pleasures. You'll definitely find her obsessively live-tweeting, waxing poetic, and chatting up fellow Fanatics and readers. Follow her on X.