“Is This Everyone You Imagined It Would Be?” “No. I Imagined You Being Chased by a Bolder.” “There’s Still Time.”
When I was looking at Christmas movies to record in 2024, The Christmas Quest caught my eye for a couple reasons. The idea of a Christmas treasure hunt sounded fun, plus I was fans of the stars from their mystery movies. Sadly, the movie didn’t live up to my expectations.
Stefanie (Lacey Chabert) has followed in her mother’s footsteps. She’s become an archeologist who tracks down long lost or forgotten treasures. Her mother spent years trying to track down one particular treasure, the legendary treasure of the Yule Lads. She spent many Christmases in Iceland looking for it.
So when a stranger (Derek Riddell) shows up in Stefanie’s office saying he has a new clue for the Yule Lads’ treasure, she jumps in to find it. However, it quickly becomes apparent they need an expert in the Norse languages, so Stefanie turns to her ex-husband, Chase (Kristoffer Polaha). As the two follow a trail of clues in Iceland, will they find their old spark?
The problem with his movie was it didn’t quite know what it wanted to be. Was it trying to be a typical Hallmark Christmas romance? Was it looking to be a treasure hunt movie? Did it even want to squeeze in Christmas elements? It did the romance pretty well. Some of the Christmas moments seemed genuine, while others felt forced into the story. And the treasure hunt? That was the biggest disappointment of the film. It had the elements there, but they were all undercooked. It was doubly disappointing since that was the main thing I was hoping to enjoy with this film.
I was also left wondering, given the theme of the movie, why was it Chase was okay with leaving his parents behind for Christmas to go off with his ex-wife?
This is really Lacey and Kristoffer’s movie, and they do a great job with it. The rest of the cast all have very small parts. They mostly work, although a few didn’t quite pull it off for me.
The real star here is Iceland. Yes, the movie was filmed on location, and it makes you want to travel to Iceland. Maybe not in the winter (I hate the cold), but it is absolutely beautiful.
I feel like there is a version of this movie that does a better job of balancing the elements so everyone is satisfied when they finish watching this movie. But that’s not the movie we got. If you want to fill 90 minutes, The Christmas Quest will do that, but don’t expect the quest to be an equal part of the story.
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