Hallmark Movie Review: ‘Return To Office’ Is Cute & Sweet

If there is any phrase that no one wants to hear these days, it would be Return to Office. Working from home has become a way of life. We’ve all gotten our routines down and figured out productivity.

Return to Office in real life doesn’t feel like anything that we want to hear. Return to Office the movie on Hallmark is a cute movie that reminds us that returning to the office may not be such a bad thing. Cheers to personal connection.

The premise of Return to Office is, that “after making the return to the office on a hybrid schedule, two coworkers known to each other only as Ms. Monday and Mr. Tuesday start sending friendly notes, sparking an office romance.”

Return to Office was cute, but it wasn’t a movie that follows the typical Hallmark formula. While I would say that isn’t a bad thing, I would also say that with this one, I was hoping for the formula. I was hoping for more drama. I was hoping that anything that would make me like that could never happen.

But everything in this movie could have happened. So, I found myself wanting more drama. Or even more comedy. These two are polar opposites, but they put their professional hats on and get things done.

It’s on the first meeting with everyone, after the acquisition, on Zoom, when Walter (the quirky owner) announces he wants everyone to go back to the office. Because of not enough space, they will be doing a hybrid schedule. Some will come to the office Monday and Wednesday and others on Tuesday and Thursday. There will be desk sharing.

Return to Office Stills — Photos From Hallmark Channel

LONG STORY SHORT

And that’s how Ms. Monday and Mr. Tuesday come to be. Tom and Liv do not know that they are sharing a desk, but on the first day, Liv leaves a note, asking that her succulent be left out every day as it needs the sun.

The notes are at first contentious, as they are definitely not leaving the desk how the other person may want it. Liv is clean and organized. Tom is creative chaos and relaxed.

Then, there’s also Tom and Liv in person. Neither one of them knows that they are Ms. Monday and Mr. Tuesday. They are meeting in person because Tom is redesigning the logo for the social media platform, Artist Axis. Liv had the idea that it needed to be redesigned as market research doesn’t really like their current logo.

Tom is having issues with the design. Liv, on the other hand, is not really sure what she’s having trouble with, because she legitimately doesn’t seem to stand up for anything. Whatever Walter (her boss) says she agrees with. It’s annoying.

Tom thinks she’s a pushover. Liv thinks he doesn’t know how to play the corporate game. Both are annoyed with each other. Neither one is saying it though. It’s not until a day or work games that the two bond, after being paired with each other. They are learning to communicate and seeing a different side of each other.

OVER TIME

Ms. Monday and Mr. Tuesday on the other hand, they’ve progressed past sticky notes and are now onto messaging on apps. They’re falling for each other, but neither knows. They agree to meet in person, but there is going to be a wrench thrown in that plan.

Liv volunteers at an assisted living facility and one of the people there is Toms mom. She mentions something that makes Liv realize who Mr. Tuesday is. She heads to where they are due to meet up, only to find that she doesn’t have the courage to tell Tom who she is. Instead, Ms. Monday cancels on him and he’s devastated.

Over time the two are pushed together more and more, and this is not a bad thing. Liv and Tom are figuring each other out. Tom realizes he’s got feelings for her, but he’s also got feelings for Ms. Monday. Liv, knowing both people are her, only has feelings for Tom. But she’s still not saying anything to him about who she is. Instead, she’s taking it day by day.

Eventually, the two are back in the office with Walter, who hated Tom’s logo design, and instead makes his own with AI. The AI logo is one of the worst things that I have ever seen. Tom tells Walter that, but Liv tries to play both sides and that infuriates Tom. He quits his job and leaves. It is then that we see Liv find her ability to say no.

NO TO AI

All Walter cares about is money and he now believes that he can get rid of all the designers and have AI do everything. Liv can’t believe that he’s gutting the company and that he just doesn’t care about the lives that he’s affecting. Liv realizes she can’t do this and quits.

Tom is bitter. He’s telling his Mom what a pushover Liv is and she reminds him to not judge. She’s actually mad over the judgment he’s passing on Liv because he doesn’t understand. I love a Mom put son in place moment. This I can get behind.

You guessed it – eventually, Ms. Monday and Mr. Tuesday meet and the secret is out who they are. Tom isn’t even mad, he’s just excited that his feelings don’t have to be torn between two women.

Return to Office is cute and sweet, but if we’re being honest the only thing that kept us watching was Scott Michael Foster and Janel Parrish’s chemistry. The two have magnetic onscreen chemistry that makes you want to see what happens. It was their chemistry that made it hard for us to change the channel because they made us believe that something good was coming next. We hope that these two get more time together in a different movie. The two made us watch this movie. We’d definitely watch something else with them together.