October Kiss
Remember that one time Hallmark decided to get into the Halloween spirit? Today Girls Gone Hallmark reviews “October Kiss,” the movie that started it all for Hallmark Halloween content. This 2015 fan favorite stars Ashley Williams and Sam Jaeger and is still the movie most people mean when they say “Hallmark Halloween movie.”
Looking for more? Check out our full roundup of the best Halloween Hallmark movies, including Hallmark’s brand new 2026 release.
Listen to Girls Gone Hallmark’s Review of October Kiss
The Synopsis
Poppy is hired near Halloween as a temporary nanny by Ryan, a widowed, work-obsessed executive. Through a series of adventures, the eternally optimistic Poppy sets out to teach Ryan and his two kids what actually matters: unconditional love, family, and the joy of everyday moments.
Quick Facts
- Aired October 17, 2015
- Originally titled “Temporarily Yours,” a better title honestly
- Stars Ashley Williams as Poppy. We’re looking forward to seeing Ashley’s next fall movie “Much About Love” this Fall into Love season on Hallmark!
- Co-stars Sam Jaeger as Ryan. This appears to be his only Hallmark movie. He was also on “Parenthood” at the time, and more recently has shown up in “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Devil in Ohio,” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye”
- Daughter Zoe is played by Hannah Cheramy, in her first acting credit. She’s since worked on “Van Helsing” and “From”
- Written by MacKenzie Austin, whose only other credit is 2019’s “Winter Love Story” with Jen Lilley and Kevin McGarry
- Directed by Lynne Stopkewich, who also directed “Three Bedrooms, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered”
- 6.5/10 on IMDb
What We Loved
Ashley Williams brings her A-game here. Her energy is a full 100 the entire runtime, and honestly, that’s a good thing. A lot of Hallmark movies run low energy, and Poppy’s enthusiasm keeps the whole thing moving.
We also went in expecting to roll our eyes at the kids and came out surprised. The daughter’s early hostility toward Poppy actually makes sense: these are kids who’ve been let down before, so pushing away someone new is self-preservation, not just bratty writing. And the movie never turns Poppy into a romantic rival competing with the kids for their dad’s attention, which is a trap a lot of these nanny-turned-love-interest plots fall into. She’s on the kids’ side the whole way.
Small detail, big win: Zoe’s homemade witch costume. “You’re not just going to buy it from the store” energy. We’re suckers for a homemade Halloween costume.
The outdoor Halloween decorations were genuinely cute too, the kind that make you want to go decorate your own porch.
What We Wished For
A few things haven’t aged great. The sister’s running “spinster old maid” jokes about Poppy being unmarried felt dated even accounting for this being 2015.
The scene where the kids guilt-trip Ryan for working too much, with Poppy’s fingerprints all over setting it up, made us uncomfortable. He’s a widowed single parent running a business. Sometimes that means missing a daytime Halloween party. We wanted the movie to give him a little more grace instead of staging a pile-on.
The Abigail office-romance subplot is an unnecessary distraction that leads to an unnecessary miscommunication (she sees a kiss, assumes the worst, no one has an actual conversation about it). Classic, but not necessary.
And we could have done without the character trope of Poppy being unable to hold down a job, framed as part of her free-spirited charm. Fun and flaky don’t have to go together, and it’s a trope we’d love to see Hallmark retire.
Also, someone needs to talk to the props department about the interior decorating. Cobwebs draped over the kitchen and Ryan’s home office is a lot. Outdoor decor: cute. Indoor party-store cobwebs everywhere: no.
Fun Nitpicks We Can’t Let Go
- The pumpkin patch pumpkin is very obviously a giant styrofoam prop, and the movie’s sound team ADR’d a thump when they lift it. That thing costs more than any real pumpkin should.
- Poppy tells the kids to look for corn that’s “yellow underneath.” We have never heard this advice in our lives and cannot verify it works.
- Poppy insists she “doesn’t believe in measuring” while baking, and then the movie shows a tray of professional-level, perfectly flood-iced cookies. Baking is a science. This woman would produce a disaster, not a bakery display.
- There’s a framed family photo in Ryan’s house that is very obviously and very badly photoshopped into black and white.
- Ryan tells Poppy he’s 34. Sam Jaeger was about 38 when this filmed. Not a huge gap, but if the number’s going to be in the script, make it the actor’s actual age.
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About “October Kiss”
- Aired on October 17, 2015
- Originally titled “Temporarily Yours”
- Stars Ashley Williams at Poppy. Williams currently has 81 acting credits. We last saw her in “Notes of Autumn” with Luke Macfarlane. Did you realize that Ashley isn’t in any movies from this year’s CTC line up?
Related: Listen to our review of “Notes of Autumn”
- This movie co-stars Sam Jaeger as workaholic Ryan. This appears to be Sam’s only Hallmark movie. During the making of “October Kiss,” Sam was also co-starring in the family drama “Parenthood.” Of recent he has been in 19 episodes of “The Handmaid’s Tale,” “Devil in Ohio,” and “The Eyes of Tammy Faye.”
- Daughter Zoe was played by Hannah Cheramy. According to IMDB this was her first acting credit. Now 20 years old, she has since worked on several TV series like “Van Helsing” and the sci-fi thriller “From.”
- The screenplay was written by MacKenzie Austin. This writer has 2 writing credits on IMDB, this movie as well as 2019’s “Winter Love Story” with Jen Lilley and Kevin McGarry.
- Directed by Lynne Stopkewich. She is known for directing other Hallmark movies such as “Summer Love,” “Three Bedroom, One Corpse: An Aurora Teagarden Mystery,” and “Signed, Sealed, Delivered.”
- 6.5/10 rating on IMDB
Fan Favorite Fall Hallmark Movie Reviews
Get ready to welcome the fall season with your favorite Hallmark movies and Girls Gone Hallmark! This season, we are bringing plethora of fan favorites that you wouldn’t want to miss. Stay tuned as we release brand new movie reviews every Tuesday. Make sure to subscribe to our podcast, so you never miss out on any of our exciting reviews.
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Hey there! We’re Girls Gone Hallmark! Megan’s a longtime Hallmark movie fan, while Wendy – well, she used to be a Hallmark hater. Now, we’ve teamed up to share our (often very different!) takes on these films. Get ready for some lively, fun-filled conversations!
Check out the library of Hallmark movies we’ve reviewed!
