A Christmas Mystery (PG), on HBO Max
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This came out in 2022, but I didn't see it until 2024, on Max. It's more of a mystery movie than a holiday movie, but at the time of my watching it, I don't have a mystery category in web films, so I put it under holiday. (I could have also put it under "family films", but I decided not to for some reason.) If I ever do make a category for mystery web films, I'll put a secondary link to this review there. I wasn't sure if I'd enjoy the movie or not, but I decided to give it a try. And, you know, it's not great, but I found it entertaining enough.

It begins with a backstory of how 100 years ago (in 1922), a small town's river dried up, so the mill closed, and most of the townsfolk lost their jobs. But on Christmas Eve, a young boy saw Santa's sleigh flying off, and discovered some jingle bells from the sleigh had fallen into a tree outside his house. He made a wish on the bells for the mill to reopen, and after that the river started flowing again, so everyone got their jobs back. In the years since then, the town had prospered, and the bells became a popular tourist attraction.

A few days before the 100th anniversary of finding the bells, they're stolen from the town's museum. The police find the bells' case (but not the bells themselves) in the garage of George Bottoms, who works at the museum. Sheriff Pierce reluctantly arrests him, which greatly troubles his wife and young son, Kenny, who is friends with the sheriff's 11-year-old daughter, Violet (Violet McGraw, whom I knew from M3GAN). But Kenny's older brother, Harrison, believes his dad is guilty, because he resents the time that had been lost between them some time ago, when George had previously been imprisoned for another crime in a different city, before they moved to this town. Mayor Donovan (Beau Bridges) is desperate for the bells to be found by Christmas Eve, in time for the annual ringing of the bells. Meanwhile, Violet decides to conduct her own investigation, wanting to get Kenny's dad out of jail in time for Christmas. Kenny helps her, and they later get some help from Violet's older sister, Maddie, who has a crush on Harrison. And she eventually convinces Harrison to give his father a chance, and he begins helping Violet, Kenny, and Maddie with their investigation.

I won't spoil any more about the plot, except to say that the kids do solve the crime in the end. They find the bells, and the real thief is arrested. So there's a happy ending. The case really wasn't too complicated, so I didn't find it unrealistic that the kids solved it. And yet at the same time, I didn't find it unrealistic that the police failed to solve it. I didn't think they were incompetent, or anything. And I guess I liked the kids well enough. I think it will prove to be a fairly forgettable movie, but I don't regret watching it.