A Very Merry Mix-Up

A Very Merry Mix-Up is one of those Hallmark movies that fans have been recommending since the beginning of time, and this one came straight from the Girls Gone Hallmark Facebook group. Megan and Wendy finally sat down with this 2013 fan-favorite to find out if it lives up to the hype.

A Very Merry Mix-Up is one of those Hallmark movies that fans have been recommending since the beginning of time, and this one came straight from the Girls Gone Hallmark Facebook group. Megan and Wendy finally sat down with this 2013 fan-favorite to find out if it lives up to the hype.

Listen to Girls Gone Hallmark’s Review of A Very Merry Mixup

What Is A Very Merry Mix-Up About?

Alice Chapman is an antique store owner who is flying to her fiancé Will’s hometown to spend Christmas with his family for the first time. Will promises to join her after closing a big business deal. Things go sideways immediately: Alice’s luggage is lost at baggage claim and her phone gets broken, leaving her with no way to reach anyone. At the airport she runs into a man named Matt who is also dealing with lost luggage. He turns out to be the brother of her fiancé and offers her a ride to the family home, where she is welcomed into a warm, festive family celebrating Christmas together. The problem is that it is the wrong family. Matt is the brother of her fiancé, not the man himself, and the two Mitchum families could not be more different. As Alice falls deeper into the holiday traditions and genuine warmth of Matt’s family, feelings start to develop that complicate everything.

The movie originally premiered on November 10, 2013 on Hallmark Channel.

About A Very Merry Mix-Up

Directed by Jonathan Wright. This was Jonathan’s second directorial project for Hallmark, and he has been a steady presence on the network ever since, going on to direct well over 20 movies including True Justice: Family Ties, A Not So Royal Christmas, Family History Mysteries: Buried Past, and the 2025 Valentine’s Day movie for Hallmark starring Laci J. Mailey filmed in Belgium.

Written by Barbara Kymlicka. Barbara has a long list of Hallmark and Lifetime credits and has been one of the more prolific writers in the made-for-TV space for years. Her credits include The Secret Gift of Christmas and all four episodes of The Love Club.

Alicia Witt stars as Alice. Alicia has had one of the more fascinating and wide-ranging careers of anyone who has appeared in a Hallmark movie. She was discovered by David Lynch at age seven and made her film debut in Dune (1984). She went on to appear in Vanilla Sky, Two Weeks Notice, The Sopranos, Friday Night Lights, Orange Is the New Black, and Twin Peaks: The Return, among many others. For Hallmark she starred in nine Christmas movies from 2013 to 2020, including Christmas Tree Lane, which she also executive produced and for which she wrote and performed original songs. In 2021 she battled breast cancer and has been cancer-free since 2022. Her biggest recent screen credit is a chilling supporting role in the 2024 horror hit Longlegs opposite Nicolas Cage and Maika Monroe, which became the most successful independent film of 2024, earning over $128 million at the box office. She has not returned to Hallmark since 2020, explaining in 2025 that she stopped receiving offers after leadership changed at the network. On the music side she released her self-produced Christmas album I Think I’m Spending Christmas With You in November 2024, and a new album called Between Heaven and Earth is due in August 2026 as a tribute to her relationship with David Lynch.

Mark Wiebe plays Matt Mitchum. Mark is a Canadian actor with a modest list of screen credits, including appearances in Nikita and The Handmaid’s Tale. This remains one of his most prominent roles, and he has kept a relatively low profile since. His other Hallmark credit is Pride, Prejudice and Mistletoe (2018).

Scott Gibson plays fiancé Will Mitchum. Scott has a long list of credits spanning Hallmark, Lifetime, and other made-for-TV productions, with a recurring tendency toward darker Lifetime fare alongside his lighter Hallmark appearances.

Susan Hogan plays Penny, the not-future-mother-in-law. Susan is a busy Canadian character actress with a substantial list of credits, including a recent appearance in Tipline Mysteries: Dial 1 for Murder.

Lawrence Dane played Matt’s grandfather Charles. Lawrence had a career spanning over 150 projects across film and television. This 2013 movie was near the end of his resume. Lawrence passed away in March 2022 at the age of 84.

Mimi Kuzyk plays Will’s mom Judith. Mimi has an extensive list of credits including Hill Street Blues, Blue Murder, Workin’ Moms, and UnREAL.

Did You Know?

According to IMDb, the role of Alice was originally written for Jennifer Lopez. We are going to need a moment with that information.

Watch the Trailer for “A Very Merry Mix-Up”

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