User reviews

This movie starts out with some of the usual stuff. Abby is an actress famous for being the perfect TV mom, but she has a run-in with a store clerk whose unreasonable refusals result in Abby losing her temper. This goes viral and gets blown out of proportion so she flees Hollywood to Vermont for Christmas. She just wants to keep her head down. She ends up at an Inn where the innkeeper is a widower with a little girl. He happens to also be a director of a kids nativity play. So Abby helps. You can figure out how the middle of the movie plays out more or less. Like so many movies with a cute kid, Brook D'Orsay has about as much chemistry with Isla Verot's Lucy as with John Brotherton's Tom, the innkeeper. The interplay between D'Orsay and Verot is almost worth the price of admission alone, but the romance is nice too.

You might be able to guess, at least in general terms, what cause the conflict. That leads to some discussion about life choices and trust and then a very cute climax during the nativity play that isn't exactly expected. Things are wrapped up after that while watching the conjunction of the planets to create a sort of Christmas star.

A few comments about star watching that have no bearing on the enjoyment of the movie if you can ignore the fallacies of such. Foremost, no planets or stars ever move across the sky that fast. Also, it's hard to see planets or stars with so much background light in the viewing area. There are several other issues, but I will leave it at that.

;'

This is an interesting film and very well acted. It involves an actress coping with getting vilified by social media during the Christmas season - a unique premise. For the first time, we enjoyed Brooke D'Orsay's acting. We usually find her movies to be mediocre and her acting sort of robotic, probably because the scripts are so routine. But, here, she is given a good story and the opportunity to act with nice subtlety and expression. At times, she says nothing, but it is her face and movements that convey her feelings and emotions. Very nicely done. And John Brotherton is excellent - just as good as he was with Kimberley Sustad in "Lights! Camera! Christmas!".

His character is sort of a Nervous Nellie and it is endearing how he has feelings for D'Orsay's character.

Brotherton is a very multi-faceted actor - you can check him out in two episodes of the "911" series that aired earlier this year - in a performance that is stunningly evil.

But, here, he demonstrates just how diverse he is because this character is caring and sweet natured.

D'Orsay and Brotherton work well together and they make this movie fine and watchable holiday entertainment.

Finally Hallmark nailed it! This movie was so enjoyable to watch. I loved BD & JB as the leads, they were cute together and I also enjoyed the ensemble cast as well. The Inn was festive and joyful. I absolutely loved they incorporated God into the script, after all, Jesus is the reason for the season. Brooke is always beautiful to watch, her acting chops are fantastic and her male counterpart is adorable. As a whole, i thoroughly enjoyed the movie and before I knew it, two hours flew by. I never rolled my eyes or drifted off once. The little girl who played the daughter was cute as a button. I would definitely watch this movie again. Thank you Hallmark, you hit the mark on this one! Congratulations to the entire cast and crew for a job well done.

Following Yonder Star is the story of a popular actress who discovers that everyone is the press in the social media age when a minor run-in with a store clerk blows up into a big scandal.

Brooke D'Orsay as Abby retreats to Vermont to let it blow over and winds up in a bed and breakfast run by John Brotherton as Tom.

He, among other things, is directing a children's Christmas play that includes his young daughter, but he is out of his element. Abby offers to help.

Commence bonding and all the usual Hallmark stuff.

D'Orsay is her usual sweet, vulnerable self. Brotherton has a nervous energy, totally appropriate for the part, but it made me uncomfortable.

Supporting cast is good, and as always, I really appreciate the inclusion of faith and the Nativity story in these movies.

Jack was right about the Astronomical stuff, that was silly. Made me laugh, Jack.

All in all, not the greatest ever, but very watchable.

Seven.

I love all her movies, I think she's very charming, funny, and earnest. I look forward to her Christmas movies every year. And this one did not disappoint.

First off, this movie is legitimately funny. Hallmark doesn't always hit the comedy beats but this one did. John Brotherton is also awesome and he has not only a great screen presence, but he's also quirky and hilarious. I think he crushed this role.

The story was sweet. Obviously the "meltdown" wasn't that big of a deal and people were acting like Abby murdered someone. But that was also funny because people were SO horrified. The store clerk was a jerk, tbh.

I loved the stuff with the stars, too. Hallmark makes about 40-42 Xmas movies every year and this is easily top three and might be the best one out of them all. And there have been some good ones. I'll be watching this one again on December 25th.

This is "famous actress finds love in small town but has to leave for career" movie number 386, so there aren't any surprises at all here.

For #386, it's nice. The reason she flees to a small town is amusing, as she has a meltdown video go viral and it mildly threatens her next role.

Of course, she becomes involved with a widowed father with an adorable daughter and gets involved with the kid's Christmas show, lending her professional acting talents to make the performances better, and spending lots of time with the widowed father, who owns the inn where she's staying.

And of course, her agent almost spoils things for everyone at the end as he pushes things to benefit her career.

One redeeming feature, the father never addresses his daughter as "kiddo".

It's a nice watch, and we like D'Orsay from all the way back to Royal Pains, but with nothing new in the story, it's a one-time watch for us.

I am so glad for this movie being on Hallmark and Hallmark going back to its old roots of the true Christmas with Christ. No fake Satan um I mean Santa sorry for the misspelled word there.. I was so worried that Hallmark has lost all sanity with the very bad movies they have been pushing out lately so this was quite refreshing and enjoyable. Hallmark has gotten so bad with very badly written scripts and poor acting. This was nice and it's so true with how the world is with media and not realizing that actors and actresses are actually human beings who hurt and make mistakes just like the rest of us.

Following Yonder Star is a wonderful movie. I'm a very big fan of Hallmark movies and this one in particular shines brightly. The story of a well-known actress who sees just how easily things can be misconstrued in the press and particularly social media, she heads to Vermont and meets a wonderful Inn keeper and his daughter. The cast is absolutely fantastic. Brooke D'Orsay in particular is outstanding. She's a fan favorite and for good reason. John Brotherton is wonderful as the Inn keeper and he too is a natural. Both of the leads come across with good chemistry and feel natural. The storyline is fantastic. The setting is beautiful. This is a really good one. I hope that Hallmark makes more like Following Yonder Star and that they cast Brooke D'Orsay and John Brotherton in more movies, because they're great! Hope you'll enjoy this one as much as we did!

Ahhh, another Christmas feel-good movie from Hallmark, once again doing what they do best.

Abby (Brooke D'Orsay) is the star of a TV series called Guiding Grace. After a meltdown in a store, Abby decides to escape a while and head to Vermont. Arriving at the hotel, she realized she booked the wrong date, leaving her stranded. Fortunately, she finds a room at Maguire Inn, owned by the very handsome Nick Maguire (John Brotherton).

Nick is directing a Christmas play, but - in his own words - he is not very good with children. Abby - having experience in the field - offers to help. Yeah, off course we know she's going to fall for Nick - and visa versa - but I really enjoyed the way their relationship developed. It felt very natural (something Hallmark usually seems to get right).

I must also say, I thought John Brotherton did a wonderful job as Nick. He is devilishly handsome and also very funny. I think he would be fabulous as a gay character in a comedy (just saying...). I thoroughly enjoyed this movie, and there are a few very touching and beautiful moments also.

Following Yonder Star is a beautiful story of love and faith. Brook D'Orsay and Jon Brotherton had wonderful on screen chemistry and I really enjoyed them as a couple! Their characters were funny, likeable, and seeking something better in life. Watching their journey was the focus of the movie.

The young actress who played the daughter of Jon's character did a great job without being over sugary. (Some of the children in Hallmark movies are a little too perfect.) I loved the interaction between her and Abby, and also with her dad. All of the kids in the movie were very good.

FYS made me feel good and I will watch it again!

7.8 stars.

While this film is following the Hallmark blueprint right down to the last cross of the t and dotted i, it still brings much emotion.

Brooke is amazing in this role. I've seen her do a few amazing performances, this is one of those. I've seen her do some blah, and a below average performances is too, in fact it seems that she's improving over time. She moves up a few slots every time I see her in a new film. I love her transformation into a much more effective and passionate performer.

The male lead is great as a blubbering fan, at first. He's too authentic at portraying an awkward admirer. This detracts from the romantic aspects of the film for the first hour, but eventually his character becomes more comfortable as her friend and eventual boyfriend.

The story is formulaic, so I won't bother to explain the plot. But I must say that it's engineered to entertain and it absolutely achieves that goal.

If you don't mind formulaic, watch this one. It's a classic.

Hallmark does a good job of coding religious-focused movies with the Dayspring label, so you can stay away if you want to. Despite knowing this, I was taken out of the story with the awkward monologue prayers and discussions of God guiding the lead characters' love choices. It seemed like it was painted on after or the additions were simply pandering to an audience that may have rather watched such films on Great American Family where one man and one woman still leaves room for the Holy Ghost routinely.

Abby (the great Brooke D'Orsay) is a famous actor, who goes to Vermont to flee a scandal brewing in LA. I'll pause here to say this movie is a rather similar plot line to my 2023 novel, Big Sky Lake, where a similar inciting incident brings a famous actress back home to Montana, where she too finds love and helps direct a children's play in a small town. I'm not saying it's similar, but you could make that argument.

Anyhoo . . . Abby meets handsome inn owner Tom (John Brotherton) with a young daughter. Yep, this happens in Big Sky Lake, too. They speak to God . . . No, that doesn't happen in my novel, so I guess that's where we differ the most.

This small Vermont town is jammed packed with extras in every scene. As our actors walk down main street in one scene, you would be forgiven thinking they were navigating the Miracle Mile in Chicago with the amount of people packed around them. Regardless, the town looks beautiful and not the standard stand-in Canadian town. I'm not sure where they filmed it, but it looks unique.

The movie may have the season's record for the most interrupted kiss attempts in one scene.

Our leads attempt their first smooch, but are interrupted by a nosy inn guest, a phone call and a child, all in about 25 seconds. We never see if they give it a go after we cut away. I imagine they would have, but maybe that kiss would be one too many for Dayspring.

Cast Kudos: Isla Verot as Lucy, the young daughter. She's just about perfect in this role and actually carries a lot of the movie on her shoulders.

Measuring Christmas Magic: Despite being a Christmas play on Christmas vacation and constant mentions of Christ, I just didn't feel the magic. It was all a bit too sincere. Where's the fun of the season?

Alternative Movie Titles: A star comes to Vermont; Abby, Tom and the Holy Ghost find love.

"Following Yonder Star" was a movie that I was not familiar with prior to sitting down and watching it as part of my 2024 Christmas movie marathon.

With it being a Hallmark movie, and also taking the movie's cover into consideration, I figured that this would be an archetypical release from the sappy Christmas elves working at Hallmark.

Writers John Eliot Jordan and Carlie Mantilla-Jordan put together a script and storyline that started out interestingly, but it sort of mellowed out and turned generic shortly before halfway through. And by that I mean, it became an archetypical Hallmark Christmas movie, for better or worse.

The only familiar face on the cast list in this movie, for me, was child actress Isla Verot, as I had recently seen her in another Christmas movie, and also leading actor John Brotherton. Regardless, I will say that the acting performances in "Following Yonder Star" was good. I do enjoy watching unfamiliar and new talents on the screen, so that was definitely a plus in favor of the movie.

This is not a movie that really impressed me, and I am not returning to watch it a second time. And it definitely is not going to become a Christmas classic.

My rating of director Jeff Beesley's 2024 movie "Following Yonder Star" lands on a four out of ten stars.

Only Hallmark can take what could've been a 5 star movie and turn it into a two!! I'm soOooOooo SICK and tired of them having the same old "interrupted kisses". How old are we, 6??? Maybe they need to rename their network Hallmark Kids. -Even SpongeBob has better quality content adults can enjoy! But Hallmark seems to think their fans like this recipe.

Following Yonder Star could've been sOOOO much better if they left the affections to spontaneous timing, rather than the same old, tired modus operandi of the interrupted kiss. I'm at the point now, where when it happens, I just turn off the movie and watch something else. The same old saccharine sweet stories are consistently redundant, stale, and overused. Hallmark, maybe it's time to decide who your actual demographic *is* -6 year olds or 40+ year olds! Thanks for ruining yet another, potentially good movie.

This could have been a better movie if the casting was better.

It has a great storyline for a Christmas-Romance movie.

But in spite of the reviewer that stated "Brotherton is a very multi-faceted actor" I found his gayness distracting for a lead "male" actor. It was so obvious and distracting when interacting with D'Osay. He probably could have been a good choice for supporting male actor but obviously not as a lead. He was OK in touching moments with his "daughter". Overall I would have rated this as an 8 for the story.

I thought it was going to be about the coming planetary alignment on Jan 25th 2025 but there where a few conjunctions in 2024 of only 2 planets.