A Castle for Christmas

A Castle for Christmas

To escape a scandal, a bestselling author journeys to Scotland, where she falls in love with a castle -- and faces off with the grumpy duke who owns it.

  • Released: 2021-11-26
  • Runtime: 98 minutes
  • Genre: Comedy, Family, Romance
  • Stars: Brooke Shields, Cary Elwes, Vanessa Grasse, Suanne Braun, Lee Ross, Mark Fleischmann, Andi Osho, Drew Barrymore, Eilidh Loan, Stephen Oswald, Tina Gray, Desiree Burch, Anthony Strachan, John Stahl, Timothy Barrow
  • Director: Mary Lambert
 Comments
  • JoyaWatches - 22 December 2023
    Underwhelmed my low expectations
    While of course I expected cliches and cheesiness, this was still disappointing. The side characters were very underutilized and didn't bring much substance to the story at all. The conflicts between the two leads were unbelievable and solved so quickly, that I found the plot entirely forgettable and boring.

    I think the breathtaking scenery was a strength to the movie, so I find it disheartening that it had such lazy, boring writing to go along with it. The movie seemed self aware that an audience would watch anyway for the holiday spirit and go along with its tropes, so no real effort was put in.

    In all, the low quality of the story distracts from any potential charm from the movie. It makes for one humorless, dragged-out experience.
  • megfrench-08677 - 11 December 2022
    A sweet Christmas Escape
    Cute and fun. Loved seeing these experienced actors taking time to make a Christmas romantic comedy where good people get a second chance at love!

    Good, clean fun and happy characters. Works for me!

    Loved that it was filmed in beautiful Scotland, totally catching the flavor of the land and people.

    Great characters and loved seeing Brook Shields in this. I was not familiar with Cary Elwes but now I'm a big fan! I loved the Scottish accents, gorgeous scenery and the characters. Fun enough that I would love a sequel!

    This movie was totally my style. Romantic, funny, suspenseful ( just enough) and heart warming.

    Good job, Netflix!!
  • katrinatiebel - 9 September 2022
    A Delightful Surprise
    Ok, I'm a cynic, I'll get that out of the way, yet every holiday I can't but help watch the Hallmarkish (that has to be a word) holiday movies. While I know the plot formula, and the cast for each movie (there are usually about 2-3 casts that change up for each movie even down to the dog), and the cheesy music-I still watch them. And while this movie had a predictable plot and cheesy moments, I really enjoyed the simplicity of it. Brooke Shields and Carey Elwes are veteran actors who realize that less is more. We start off meeting the heroine who is an extremely successful author who just killed off a beloved main character in her book series and fans are not happy. She also just went through a very public and messy divorce. She decides to travel to Scotland to get away to a castle that has important meaning to her family. Elwes plays a well educated but grumpy and nearly bankrupt aristocrat and he immediately clashes with Shield's character due to a misunderstanding. The castle is his but he must sell it and she wants to buy it-so it's a frosty beginning. Shields seeks refuge in a charming neighboring village during her time in Scotland that makes for some heat warming scenes.

    The scenery was beautiful and the supporting cast delightful. I like that the two main characters fell in love over months not two days or at first sight. Is it an Oscar winner? No, indeed it is not. But it is a movie where you can sit with your kids and spouse with cocoa and watch it without worrying about bad language, a sex scene or laughing your way through the entire movie because of it's ridiculousness and horrific acting. Yes, to an extent it does have some ridiculousness in it, but some of the greatest Christmas movies have a sense of ridiculousness in it. It's Christmas after all and even this cynic sometimes wants to throw some reality out of the window from time to time. My biggest critique is that I wish that Elwes would have said " As you wish" at some point in the film. But alas that is another movie but for the genre this film was a pleasant surprise.
  • kathymorgan-20997 - 3 January 2022
    Very entertaining and well done
    This is fun, delightful, casted perfectly and beautiful scenery. Not typical 30 yr olds falling in love. Believable, great characters who get a second chance at love. Brooke and Gary are awesome together. Ok tv land , make a series based on this story with these actors ....i think critics and even regular viewers need a bit of wholesome,fun and romance. I never rate or comment but just loved this quaint and enjoyable story. Left me wanting more ..a sequel, a series. Whatever. The world has enough drama, death, fear and negativity....watch this one. Well done.