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In the newest sub-genre - the gay Christmas movie - this one is the best so far. Within the strict confines of the genre, the solid writing and directing and the strong performances manage to breathe some fresh life and vitality into the predictable plot and Christmas movie tropes.

It helps a lot that there's real romantic chemistry between the two leads - who are married in real life - and their acting is considerably stronger than the typically C-List actors who are plugged into these cookie-cutter holiday romcoms.

Fran Drescher does her familiar shtick as a loving and meddling mama. Whether or not you buy her ultra-Jewish persona as a Christmas obsessed woman is another story. As a matter of fact, all three of the leads seem kinda Jewish. Fine. They should live and be well.

Suddenly everyone is all for making the yuletide gay. Earlier this month it was The Christmas House, Hallmark's first attempt at including a gay couple in their kitsch Americana; now it's Lifetime's The Christmas Set-up, which mostly revolves around a will-they-won't-they gay romance. While Hallmark's gay story was rather tentative, extremely shaky and reeked of tokenism, Lifetime's effort is surprisingly sweet and engaging, and not at all apologetic. As is to be expected, it's also very vanilla; yet the story manages to make that a plus, rather than an obvious avoidance of male-on-male action (which it absolutely is!). The leads (real life couple Ben Lewis and Blake Lee) are appealing and the story around Hugo's career/life balance crisis is likely to resonate with many. And then there's Fran Drescher as Hugo's mother. If nothing else, The Christmas Set-up is an opportunity to marvel at that weirdly mesmerising voice - somewhere between a screech and whine, and now with added raspiness. It's as if he's been gargling with razor blades. The Christmas Set-up is worth a look for Fran alone.

While Lifetime in recent years have put many LGBTQ characters in their movies, The Christmas Setup is their first attempt to put a gay couple front and centre. Although the title of the movie is as forgettable as any Hallmark/Lifetime Christmas movies that get churned out faster than superhero reboots, the movie itself is anything but.

Meticulously written, directed, well acted with pleasing visuals and incredible chemistry between the two leads, The Christmas Setup allows its viewers to take a peek into the lives of two people who in most parts of world are still not legally allowed to marry. This movie manages to normalise their relationship so beautifully while at the same time show the world just how loving a relationship between any two people can be, regardless of their orientation or whichever gender they identify with.

Ben Lewis and Blake Lee lit up the screen with every interaction, and Fran Drescher is as adorable as ever. Every gay guy should be so lucky to have a mom like Fran/Kate, much like Sharon Gless as the supermom for Mikey in QAF. Ellen Wong provided the much needed best friend / confidant without being overbearing, and Chad Connell played the straight brother who every gay person out there could only dream of having.

Although this movie was never intended to redefine any particular genre, it didn't need to. The fact that it got greenlit and produced to such high standards indicates a slow but positive steady shift of the world's point-of-view of what love is. Hopefully, more of the same will be made in the future.

Acting is a little stiff but the story line is good. The main characters, Hugo and Patrick, are married in real life and their love for each other came through beautifully. I would recommend this movie to everyone. Good for Lifetime to show such an open minded movie with no bigotry.

The 2020 Lifetime Christmas efforts did vary and often veered between mediocre and slightly above average and were indicative at times of rushed productions. But there were enough of them that were still watchable and more (was pleasantly surprised by some) and were not amateur efforts. Actually think on reflection that the standard was of better quality than 2019's batch. 'The Christmas Setup' sounded promising and really appreciated its inclusion of diversity by having a same sex couple in a milestone move for Lifetime.

Luckily, 'The Christmas Setup' turned out to be very nicely done. Is it a great film? No, none of the 2020 Lifetime Christmas films are though in all fairness. Is it worth watching? Absolutely yes (as is enough of this particular batch), and by far one of the best and most interesting 2020 Lifetime Christmas films. While not everything in 'The Christmas Setup' works, a lot does and very well indeed to the point of greatness. The central relationship is also handled very well.

Am going to start with what could have been better. The plot is nothing special formula-wise and in terms of how it maps out. It's another film that is a bit of a slow starter, where it takes time to set up and the dialogue is on the awkward side, with an overload of cheese and schmaltz.

Similarly felt that the ending felt too hasty.

However, a lot is good. Ben Lewis and Blake Lee are both immensely engaging and give warm, honest performances. Their chemistry is beautifully done, tasteful and sympathetic with no judgement and they are very natural together, that they are married in real life helps. Fran Drescher is a sheer delight in her scene stealing role. Lifetime have always varied when it comes to having characters that are interesting and worth caring for, 'The Christmas Setup' is a case of both with the most rootable central partnership of the Lifetime 2020 Christmas films.

Visually, the film is professional looking rather than looking on the cheap, the scenery is lovely. The music is not used too much and has an appropriate sound. The direction shows somebody at ease with the genre and while there is nothing innovative it's not routine or dull either. Furthermore, a great job is done with the Christmas atmosphere, where it does feel like Christmas and in an affectionate way. Some lovely Christmas touches, especially in the second half, and there are some very sweet, but not sickly, scenes. The script did have a nice mix of funny and poignant lines, especially the banter between the leads. The story may be thin but has a warm heart and charm and doesn't take itself too seriously. While the first quarter is not easy to get into at first, a vast majority of the second half is great.

Overall, well done. 7/10.