Tamal Kundu
Directed by debutant filmmaker Janeen Damian, ‘Falling for Christmas’ is a Netflix romantic-comedy film. The story revolves around Sierra Belmont (Lindsay Lohan) and Jake (Chord Overstreet), two individuals who couldn’t be more different at the start of the film. Sierra is a spoilt hotel heiress who wants to find success as an influencer, just like her boyfriend, Tad (George Young), while her father wants her to take up more responsibilities in his business. Meanwhile, Jake runs a bed-and-breakfast lodge facing financial problems. The lodge in question, North Star, was originally established by the family of his late wife, Carla, and Jake loves the place, but it has become increasingly challenging to run it because of various competitors, including Belmont Summit Resort, the hotel run by Sierra’s father, Beauregard Belmont.
These two individuals meet when Sierra has an accident and suffers amnesia. Jake finds her unconscious by the road and brings her to the lodge, where a love story soon begins to brew between the two. ‘Falling for Christmas’ is a pretty film. It uses its setting to tell the story it wants to tell comprehensively. If you are wondering when and where ‘Falling for Christmas’ takes place, we got you covered. SPOILERS AHEAD.
Falling for Christmas is Set in Modern Times
The setting of ‘Falling for Christmas’ is very modern. Characters use smartphones, and as mentioned above, Tad is a successful social media influencer with millions of followers, while Sierra wants to become one as well. At the same time, the film offers a decidedly fond notion of the past. Beauregard insists that his daughter works with him and doesn’t have a high opinion about social media and the success that can be found there. When Tad tries to boast about his accomplishments, Sierra’s father offhandedly equates social media content creating to sales, disregarding the artistic aspect of the job.
The financial problems that North Star Lodge faces are the direct result of the rapidly changing hospitality industry. It was never meant to compete with a place like the Belmont hotel but serve as a skiing resort for beginners. But North Star’s market share has decreased significantly in recent years, especially since the advent of apps like Airbnb. However, the message of ‘Falling for Christmas’ is not necessarily anti-technology. It simply urges its audience to be mindful of the past while they embrace the future.
Falling for Christmas Takes Place in the Fictional Ski Resort Town of Summit Springs
‘Falling for Christmas’ is set in the fictional ski resort town of Summit Springs, with most of the scenes taking place either in Belmont Summit Resort or North Star Lodge. The actual shooting for the film took place in Salt Lake City and Park City in the US state of Utah. The film is Lohan’s first feature project in three years. “It’s such a refreshing, heartwarming romantic comedy, and I miss doing those kinds of movies,” the actress told Netflix Tudum.
Lohan also revealed that she learned skiing for the project. “All the stunt scenes were really fun for me because I haven’t gotten to do that much in a lot of my films,” she stated. “[Like] flying off the hill, attempting to ski well and not doing it.”
