High School. Definitely nothing I want to remember, but I know for some people, they don’t mind remembering that time. That’s why we have so many movies that are set in high school or take you back to that time.
Now, personally, I have never wanted to head back to high school and I’ve never wanted to go to a reunion. However, for Elle, she was the class president and was definitely ready to head back. Her class was never able to have a reunion because everything kept getting in their way. But Elle thinks that she’s found a way to fix it – have the reunion around Christmas.
Why? Because everyone should be home for Christmas.
Elle (Aimee Teegarden) is a successful person in tech and returning home, everyone is proud. She’s supposed to make a magazines 35 under 35. She’s the person who has always felt the need to over achieve, because she doesn’t know who she is without her resume.
Back in town, she heads to the walk through of the event space and everything is as perfect as she can expect. The event planner says that she’s meticulous and the person from high school that she runs into is Devin (Tanner Novlan). Devin was always a jokester and that makes Elle nervous.
Her need for perfection, she doesn’t believe that he’s going to be able to carry this off, but that’s kinda frustrating. She hasn’t spoken to him in fifteen years and it’s not fair to just automatically assume that everyone is the same they were in high school. People grow and people change.
And some people still live with their high school dreams and mentality. But also, sometimes it’s not the worst thing in the world to still live with high school dreams, because if you can carry them out, they will sometimes prove to you who aren’t and remind you why you should be thankful that some dreams never came true.
For Elle, she always had the biggest crush on a guy named Cameron and when he starts paying attention to her, she’s flattered. But Cameron doesn’t want anything good from her. He wants her notoriety in tech to further his career.
Only thing is everything may not be okay at the company she works for. They are being investigated and Elle doesn’t know why. Her boss hasn’t told her anything and every time she reaches out, she’s given the run around.
But the one person who seems to take her out of her head is Devin. She doesn’t seem to like it, because with him she feels vulnerable. There is just something about being around each other that pushes the other.
Devin has a little girl and he wants nothing more than to be the best father. His little girl thinks Elle is a celebrity and it’s conversations with Elle that makes him see things a different way. His little girl wants to go to a coding camp and he is hesitant. However, for him, it’s a matter of letting his little girl go. He just is helped to see that moments like this are what make us move forward and help us achieve our dreams.
Devin had not wanted anything to do with his class reunion, but as he works with Elle, he finds his guard coming down. He tells his daughter that she can go to coding camp. He starts to wear a smile. He laughs more. He looks at Elle with that look you would hope you get looked at with.
The location that they are supposed to have the reunion at is damaged and everything is destroyed. All of the props, decorations… everything. For Devin, insurance will cover everything. But for Elle, it means her fear of not being perfect is coming to life.
The two work together in order to get everything right, especially when they have to hold it in the high school auditorium. Hell, Devin even decides to show up and go to the reunion. He’s wanting to be a part of things instead of running the other way.
I do believe that part of him has always liked Elle. He’s just never felt good enough to be the man that he thinks that she needs. But the thing that is crazy scary in life is that once we look past our insecurities and once we see life in this different way, we can start to wrap our heads around that we are good enough for anyone.
Love is going to find a way to wherever it needs to find its way to. That’s just a fact of life that takes a lot of heartache and heartbreak and growth. It doesn’t always come in the form of relationship love, but it does happen and therefore what we’re left with is a person who knows what they will and what they won’t settle for.
And that’s okay.
What matters in life is that no matter what happens, you take the time to figure out who you are and that you find the things that make you happy. You’re allowed to take whatever time is needed for that journey. But you’re also allowed and encouraged to remember that you are human – you’ll make your mistakes, you’ll learn your lessons, and you’ll move forward.
High School does not now nor does it ever define all of you and it will never be all that you are.
Now, I know that I can find something deep in anything. It’s one of my gifts in life (and some would say a curse).
A Christmas Class Reunion isn’t supposed to be deep. It’s supposed to be fun. And it is just that. Teegarden and Novlan are a delight and definitely have on screen chemistry. We will always love most everything that Teegarden does on Hallmark, after all, she is a staple.
And while we still probably head to any of our class reunions, we will rewatch A Christmas Class Reunion. It definitely made us feel some Christmas joy.