New romantic comedies are coming to the Hallmark Channel in the New Year, and an all-new mystery to Hallmark Movies & Mysteries! Hallmark Media has released their upcoming movie premieres.
See what's airing this January 2024...
HALLMARK CHANNEL:
Love on the Right Course
Premiere Date: Saturday, Jan. 6 at 8 pm
Whitney (Ashley Newbrough) is a professional golfer who is struggling to make the cut to qualify for her next tournament in Europe. Concerned that she might not be able to continue competing on a professional level, she returns to Budapest, and the golf course her family owns there, to reevaluate her career. She finds that her father, who has grown reclusive since losing his wife two years ago, has handed over day-to-day operations of the club to a laid-back, new golf pro, Daniel (Marcus Rosner). Daniel’s casual style is at odds with Whitney’s and it throws her off her game, literally. As the pair get to know each other, their perspective changes and a romance develops. But, when Whitney’s former trainer returns and pushes Daniel out, it might just cost Whitney her best shot at love.
Movie Reviews:
❤️ LOVE ON THE RIGHT COURSE (my assumption is clean as far as I can tell, but I did fast-forward some parts) This was a bit slow for me. It wasn’t too engaging and didn’t hold my interest. The romance was lacking in depth. No charming meet cute, nothing that portrays sparks, nothing that makes your heart warm and fuzzy. I found myself fast-forwarding a lot. I did love it when Marcus Rosner was on the screen. He looked really good here. Ashley Newbrough appears a bit aloof and honestly didn’t look too believable as a golf athlete. It’s hard to explain but she looked too cutesy… too “put together”, more like a model, not an athlete. I also thought this was an odd movie to be premiered in Winter by Hallmark. It looked more like a Summer movie to me. ~CH Mom
❤️ Love on the Right Course is clean, cozy, and so normal. Normalcy is something to be cherished these days, Major kudos to Miss Bristow for writing and producing this great movie!
(and also, that announcer at the start of the movie had 1 really good Cameron Mathison impersonation!). –Maria
❤️ "Love on the Right Course" was nice. Decent storyline, wonderful leads and supporting players and spectacular scenery. Oh my gosh Hungary is so lovely.~Joan
❤️ Love on the Right Course was a one time watch for me. Nothing in particular, and it was family friendly, it was just boring for me. I have never been a fan of golf and the storyline with the dad selling the business didn’t really grab my attention, it was one of those “play while you are cooking/cleaning” kind of movies, which is fine as those are needed as well Lol The best part was the beautiful scenery of the location. ~Paula
❤️ Love on the Right Course is family friendly about Whitney is a professional golfer who is struggling to make the cut to qualify for her next tournament in Europe. Concerned that she might not be able to continue competing on a professional level, she returns to Budapest, Hungary & the golf course her family owns there to reevaluate her career.
Whitney finds that her Father who has grown reclusive since losing his wife two years ago, has handed over day-to-day operations of the club to a laid-back, new golf pro, Daniel. Daniel’s casual style is at odds with Whitney’s, and it throws her off her game, literally. As the pair get to know each other, their perspective changes and a romance develops. But, when Whitney’s former trainer returns and pushes Daniel out, it might just cost Whitney her best shot at love. Brittany Bristow & her Husband, Dustin Keating, wrote Love on the Right Course. Bristow is also appears in the movie; Love in the Right Course ~Anonymous
A Scottish Love Scheme
Premiere Date: Saturday, Jan. 13 at 8 pm
Lily (Erica Durance) travels to Scotland with her mother and reconnects with Logan (Jordan Young), a childhood family friend. Unbeknownst to Lily and Logan, their meddling mothers have come up with a plan to set them up.
Movie Reviews:
❤️ A Scottish Love Scheme- Family friendly. It’s about three brothers trying to save their family business, Campbell’s Distillery. Lily, an old friend of the family, is visiting with her mother Cait and gets pushed into helping with their branding. She is divorced and bonds with Logan who is a widower. The only thing I noticed that was maybe questionable was Caleb (the younger brother) gets a call and says to Logan, “it’s Jimmy, we’re on for dinner.” I don’t know who Jimmy is and I don’t recall seeing him. For me, it was a little slow, at times, but it’s still a nice movie with beautiful scenery. Allie B
❤️ A Scottish Love Scheme- Caleb calls his Brother; Logan that he & Jimmy are on Dinner when I saw picture in the internet when I notice the blonde lady named Jaimie or Jamie? Jimmy is shortened for Jaimie or Jamie. There’s 2 blonde ladies in the picture with Campbell & Reese Families in the Internet ~Anonymous
❤️ A Scottish Love Scheme- I agree Allie, slow moving but beautiful scenery! ~Paula
❤️ A Scottish Love Scheme - I had a chance to watch this as I was somewhat busy on Sunday afternoon, so the call to Jimmy (that Allie mentions above) baffled me. I wondered if I missed something there. Otherwise, it was family-friendly. And, it was enjoyable to see the camaraderie between the three brothers as they worked together on their family business. There is some casual drinking throughout the film. For me, this felt more like a Hallmark Movies & Mysteries sort of film, instead of the usual lighthearted rom-com on the Hallmark Channel. The mothers in the movie were cute, and I liked how they were scheming as matchmakers, to put Lily and Logan together. Even though it is family-friendly, this may not be entertaining for kids, although there is a sweet boy and an adorable dog. Overall, there's something warm and cozy about this film; the romance is subtle, but nice; the film has a wonderful ensemble cast, and the setting in Scotland is gorgeous. ~Net
❤️ A Scottish Love Scheme is family friendly - When I read the comments that the viewers are saying there’s woke on Hallmark IG? If you guys watch A Scottish Love Scheme on HMN just before it’s shown this Saturday. II read comments on Hallmark IG, The viewers thought there’s gay couple in it but they’re ain’t so although possibly they’re Brothers or Cousins of Logan. ~Anonymous
❤️ A Scottish Love Scheme was just okay for me. My husband and I felt it was very slow and kind of boring. The scenery was breathtaking, the accents were cool, and the family dynamic was lovely. We really wanted to love this one because we like anything Scottish. But we did not feel any spark between the lead’s. We did not finish this one either, but we did watch longer than the previous movie. ~Joan
❤️ And as much as I love all things Scottish, the Scottish Love Scheme movie just didn't hold my attention. I made it about two-thirds through and the only thing that kept me watching for that long was the beautiful scenery and the lovely Scottish accents. ~ Jane
Betty’s Bad Luck in Love
Premiere Date: Saturday, Jan. 20 at 8 pm
Cursed from childhood to fail at romance, Betty’s (Laci J. Mailey) relationships have always ended in disaster. But when she meets Alex (Marco Grazzini), she’s tempted to try once more. Can true love prevail over a curse?
Movie Reviews:
❤️ Betty’s bad luck in love not family friendly. In the beginning of the movie the main character was about middle school age. And one of her classmates put a hex on her because she was talking and eating Oreos with her crush. You could just think that it’s a silly school girl crush but her mother was a fortuneteller. It wasn’t my cup of tea. ~Anonymous
❤️ Betty's Bad Luck in Love is hilarious, adorable, soooo romantic, clean (the 'curse' was all just mainly in her head), and possibly the best new movie of this month! -Maria
❤️ Betty's Bad Luck In Love *is* family friendly. It is disclosed that the friend's mother WAS NOT fortune teller. The girl made it up, as middle schoolers do.
And while Betty did visit a fortune teller later, it was obvious the fortune teller wasn't more than just a scammer, charging $149 + tax for nothing. ~Denise
❤️ Betty's Bad Luck in Love – She was way too overly dramatic for me and I really didn’t like the curse stuff. I tried, but I just couldn’t get into it. Allie B
❤️ Betty’s Bad Luck in Love. This is a movie I normally would not have watched, but I wanted to see what all the talk was about and discern for myself. I think everyone’s definition of “family friendly” or “clean” is different (and can sometimes, perhaps, be a gray area?); I find this to also be true with my reading friends on GoodReads. For me, it’s not just about the absence of sexual situations or homosexuality or transgender nonsense. As a Christian, there are many other factors to consider. For instance, the devil uses subtlety and whitewashed deceit to lure people away from God’s path and, therefore, I feel that anything that even mildly dabbles in things that have evil roots, such as sorcery or witchcraft or astrology or fortune telling, needs to be avoided in my family.
I know people accept things like astrology and horoscopes and magic and palm reading and crystals as just silly or lightweight amusements and not to be taken seriously, but, for me, cracking that door open and giving the devil even a small foothold is something to be avoided. With no children around, I watched parts of this movie and fast-forwarded through other parts just so I could see what it was all about. The lead actors are cute and their banter was occasionally fun but Betty was such a neurotic drama queen that her melodrama alone would have made me hit the delete button. But worse than that was the full embrace throughout the whole movie of belief in hexes and curses. Betty has believed for 20 years (twenty years!!!) that she was truly put under a hex and her entire life and relationships have all been cursed because of it. It’s irrelevant to me that the hex was total nonsense done by a tweenage girl, because the movie, as a whole, still puts it forth (over and over!) as a legitimate and acceptable possibility. Trying to rid her life of this curse, Betty even goes to a “Madame” fortune teller who reads her palm and tells her there’s “hope” because she has in her bag of tricks a “counter spell that can take the hex off of even the most powerful curse”. (That is not my version of “hope”!!) Obviously, the woman is a money-grabbing phony but, once again, that’s irrelevant to me because Betty and the movie still consider this to be an appropriate and worthwhile option.
Occasionally, so long as there are no children watching with me, I don’t mind a movie that has one tiny blip of a silly fortune teller at a carnival or something like that, where it’s not really an integral part of the main storyline. But, unfortunately, with this movie Betty’s belief in the curse and hex was pretty much the ENTIRE storyline. Even without that horrible storyline, the movie kind of dragged on and on and on, and felt like it was just trying too hard to be quirky or unique; and Betty’s neurosis made what little romance there was feel rather lackluster and not believable. (*Spoiler* And her joining his male rugby team at the end was beyond ridiculous!) I liked the actors and wouldn’t mind seeing them in a different film but this script was not family friendly and was a definite delete, for me. ~~Jane
❤️ BETTY’S BAD LUCK IN LOVE (hex/curse and fortune telling content implied, but not real)
I’m not sure about this. There were some good things about it, but the whole premise is quite ridiculous. Betty was extremely anxious and worried… it was way too much. I was cringing so much watching her followed/stalked the guys camping and stopped the rugby game… all because she was worried. I personally wouldn’t have fallen for Betty if I were Alex, with her many antics…ha! I have to say the chemistry was spot on though, and Marco Grazzini was WONDERFUL, I think he saved this movie for me. I also enjoyed the movie a bit more once the whole curse thing was out in the open between Alex and Betty. Great acting by both leads. It was a one time watch for me. ~CH Mom
Romance with a Twist
Previous Title: Swinging Into Love
Premiere Date: Saturday, Jan. 27 at 8 pm
Luna (Jocelyn Hudon) is a former dancer, who left that dream behind for a grounded life managing her family’s construction business and gets the opportunity to transform a gymnasium into a studio for aerials. As she sneaks a moment to try dancing in the silks, she is surreptitiously discovered by Bennet (Oliver Renaud), a professional aerialist, who has returned home from performing around the world. Bennet is none too pleased to walk in to find his contractor messing around on the silks, but when his partner for an upcoming show drops out, he soon recruits Luna to perform with him. As the hard work of this dynamic sport and the joys of Luna returning to her roots as a dancer bring them closer together, will their relationship crash or will they find a way to reach new heights?
Movie Reviews:
❤️ Romance with a Twist / My Perfect Romance - This past weekend's movie's were not my cup of tea. I tried watching both the Hallmark and the UP-TV movie but neither one held my interest. I watched most of the Hallmark movie but I only got through about fifteen minutes of the UP-TV movie. Holding out hope next week's movies are better. ~Joan
❤️ ROMANCE WITH A TWIST (clean) I liked this one. It was quite sweet and engaging through out the movie. I do have to say that the male lead (Bennett) was a little mean and snobbish, especially in the beginning. I know that was the personality they wanted to portray but…. goodness, poor Luna. It was a huge undertaking and what a pressure for her. Bennett did make it up a bit towards the end though. The aerial performance was SO beautiful! And the ending scene too. ~CH Mom
❤️ Romance with a Twist is clean and FANTASTIC!! –Maria
❤️ We really enjoyed “Romance with a Twist,” and it was light-hearted and family-friendly. The male lead has a real circus acrobat background which makes the movie more believable. The aerial performances were fun to watch, but the movie was also about building trust, overcoming fears, and pursuing your dreams. Laurie
❤️ Romance with a Twist - Overall, it was a good movie. A bit slow to start. They did some nice aerials during the show they were in--I think they saved all of that till the end and just did little things during the rest of the movie to keep the story going. ~Denise
❤️ Hallmark’s “Romance with a Twist” is a family-friendly story starring a fit and agile Jocelyn Hudon as Luna, and Oliver Renaud as Bennet. The chemistry between the two is excellent as Luna helps Bennet overcome his fear of opening his heart to love, and Bennet helps Luna overcome her fear of heights while stepping in to be his aerialist partner for an upcoming arts festival. From what I’ve read elsewhere, Jocelyn Hudon performs all her own aerial feats, which I found to be quite impressive. ~MPT
❤️ I LOVED "Romance with a Twist." Jocelyn Hudon is so graceful and athletic and skilled to be able to perform the aerials so perfectly and beautifully. It was certainly a fresh story! The only thing that I didn't like was how everyone was treating her so meanly in the beginning as she was learning the skills needed. It was mean and didn't make sense as she was good from the start. ~Amy G.
HALLMARK MOVIES & MYSTERIES:
True Justice: Family Ties
Premiere Date: Friday, Jan. 12 at 8 pm
Starring: Katherine McNamara, Markian Tarasiuk, Nikki DeLoach, and Benjamin Ayres
A law school student (Katherine McNamara) with the help of her friends sets out to prove her brother was wrongfully convicted. The only way to clear his name is by finding the real killer, but the closer they get, the more danger they are all in.
Movie Reviews:
🔎 True Justice was good! I was engaged the whole movie and when it was done, it left me wanting more. The acting was great. The actor and actress who played Eli and Casey were excellent. Nikki De Loach and Ben Ayres were just a little bonus. ~CH Mom
🔎 The True Justice mystery movie was good, at first I didn’t like it but each member of the Scooby Doo pack but they grew on me, especially the con man who they hired and then invited to join their investigation team. I don’t know why they added Benjamin and Nikki as their roles were so small and I wished to see more of them. The storyline was good and threw me for a loop at the end but it wasn’t great, so just a one time watch for me. Family friendly, don’t recall anything inappropriate. ~Paula
🔎 Paula, I laughed when I read your "Scooby Doo" pack but that was exactly it! I was actually surprised by this one and liked it more than I expected. Just as you said, at first I wasn't sure, but it did grow on me, the characters were good and the story was well done. It was a nice change from to usual "cop + chef" combo. -Lizzy
🔎 We enjoyed the mystery/crime/legal movie “True Justice: Family Ties.” It was family-friendly for older kids because it deals with a murder and an affair. The ensemble cast played well off of each other, and it was different from the usual Hallmark Movies and Mysteries movie series. I hope they make another one in this franchise – Laurie
🔎 Loved True Justice! The characters had great chemistry and it was fun to have Nikki and Ben in small roles. I saw that Nikki and her writing partner wrote the script. They did a great job! They storyline was unique and kept me guessing.
I see many complaining about mystery series not continuing. Hallmark has never said any of the last mysteries were going to be series. I’m fine watching a mystery movie for itself. They don’t have to all be series. Jennifer R
🔎 We did enjoy the True Justice mystery. Great chemistry between all of the cast members. Engaging mystery with several twists and turns. The actors who played the brother and sister was really believable and quite good. If this mystery series continues, we will watch the next movie. ~Joan
🔎 I enjoyed True Justice, especially the "Justice Warriors" group aspect with all the law students joining forces (plus the PI - who I really liked!) If this isn't the beginning of a series, I will be disappointed because there were several teasers that weren't resolved, mainly the obvious attraction between the two main characters. And why was the scene of Nikki De Loach and Ben Ayres kissing even in there? What was the purpose? Was it setting something up for later? One thing did make me nervous, and it may just be me being paranoid. When the PI asks out the forensic scientist girl, why did she turn him down and tell him he wasn't picking up her signals? It seemed the right moment to me, like they were flirting. Are they going to reveal she is a lesbian later? it was a weird scene. Again, maybe it was just me. I did enjoy the movie, though, and for once my ten-year-old didn't solve the crime before the end, lol. ~melnewlife
Hopefully, there will be some good films coming our way in 2024.
This looks like quite the mix of new movies in January; I'm not exactly sure which movie intrigues me, yet. I must admit, I still miss the Winter-themed movies in January, but perhaps when the promos are released, one or two will appeal to me.
Please share your thoughts in the comments below.
Blessings to you all, Net
*images via: Hallmark Media
