Alison Sweeney’s 30th Hallmark Movie Is ‘Not Your Typical Christmas Movie’

As This time every year, Alison SweeneyHallmark’s 30th film will premiere in less than 24 hours. The phenomenal actress also prepares fans for the debut by giving a sneak peek of what’s to come. According to Sweeney, the Christmas film is far from the usual flicks and will feature some unpredictable plot twists that viewers will never expect. News about Sweeney’s milestone Spread at the beginning of the month This time every year announced as part of the kickoff for Hallmark Mystery’s Miracles of Christmas programming.

As the Hallmark icon revealed to TV Insider, This time every year is “not your typical Christmas film” and deals with “some complicated issues that many people deal with during the holidays.” She also noted, “We wanted it to be fun and funny and adorable and romantic, but also touch on some of the more serious aspects of family dynamics.”

Such an extraordinary project has been in development for years, as Sweeney revealed:

“I have been working on and developing this script for over three years. What initially appealed to me about the premise was the idea that it’s a couple who are happily married, have a child, and are living life, and then something goes wrong and they have to figure out how to cope. And then around the holidays everything accelerates and amplifies and puts the issues in the spotlight.”

“Every Year This Time” will resonate with everyone

This time every year will see Sweeney portray Lauren, who was once in love with Kevin (Niall Matter), but almost a year after the split, they are now focusing on co-parenting their young son Charlie (Ezra Wilson). However, Kevin doesn’t let the separation deter him because he is determined to make their family whole again.

Although the plot differs from what fans have come to expect from Hallmark’s holiday productions, the network has not canceled it, citing discussions about “doing something outside of its traditional control framework.” Sweeney further shed light on the film’s plot, saying:

“That’s what everyone said to me when we made this movie: ‘I feel like this is my story,’ ‘This is my family,’ ‘I know someone who’s been through this.’ He’s very relatable and relatable to a lot of people for a lot of reasons, and I think there’s a character for everyone in this film. So Hallmark was very enthusiastic and it was about how to control the narrative of the story within the trust that Hallmark has built with its audience and that it’s the kind of movie that you can watch with your kids and your grandparents. We wanted to tell a deeper story but still honor what people expect from a Christmas movie, which is fun, romance and Christmas.”

This time every year will premiere on Hallmark Mystery on Thursday, October 24th.