‘Tis the season to be jolly and as such Netflix has released another Christmas movie – A Castle For Christmas. Now before you roll your eyes and groan about yet another cheesy, diabetically sweet, snow laden, boy meets girl holiday flick, A Castle For Christmas does have ‘some' (I use that word tentatively) unique features.
It goes like this. Sophie Brown (Brooke Shields) is a highly successful novelist. Having written a series of books around one central character she has committed the ultimate sin and killed off the main love interest in her latest release.
Fans are not happy and Sophie's career is in freefall. Tired of the backlash, Sophie Brown decides to head to Scotland. Why? Because that's where her father was born and lived as a child. More specifically, his family worked at Dun Dunbar Castle. Yes, they actually called it ‘Dun Dunbar'!
So off Sophie treks halfway around the world and that's where she meets a Scottish duke named Myles (Cary Elwes) and current owner of the castle. But the castle is in financial difficulty and up for sale.
Despite not being one to fall in love at first sight, Sophie does indeed fall in love at first sight – with the castle. And so she decides to buy it. Just like that!
Of course, Myles doesn't really want to sell it so he makes a deal with her. If she moves in and stays until Christmas, having put down a hefty deposit, the castle is hers.
However, Myles plans to make her life so difficult that she will move out, forfeit the deposit which he can then use to pay off some of the estate's debts. But he hasn't reckoned on Sophie being so formidable or making friends with the locals so quickly.
The inevitable happens and the pair constantly butt heads. He makes her life difficult, she takes it all in her stride. And of course, the two then grow closer with love potentially on the horizon. But can Sophie and the grumpy duke make it work? Or will the famed American author be jet setting back home in A Castle For Christmas?
This is a holiday Netflix movie so I'll let you guess which way the story ends!
Is A Castle For Christmas Worth Watching?
There's a lot to like about A Castle For Christmas. Firstly the choice of cast in Brooke Shields was great. So many holiday romance movies are based around young 20-somethings and that's fine. But occasionally it's good to see a more mature film lead.
Secondly, the location is stunning Scotland and with scenery like that, the movie was always going to look great. And it does. Scotland is beautiful and it shines in this film.
All that said, the movie is packed with the usual tropes, the accents are AWFUL and while I appreciate holiday themed escapism, this was just too much. It is not an accurate depiction of Scotland or the lovely people who live there, I'm afraid. I hid behind my hands it was so cringy in parts. Eeek!
Where Is A Castle For Christmas Filmed?
So we know A Castle For Christmas is set in Scotland and it was actually filmed there, though not in the places referenced in the film.
The Scottish filming locations include Dalmeny House (North west of Edinburgh) which was used as Dun Dunbar castle. The second castle in the film, that Sophie sees on her tour, is Tantallon Castle which is located in East Lothian.
The Cast Of A Castle For Christmas
The lead character of Sophie Brown is played by Brooke Shields. She is incredibly famous and has been acting for more than 40 years, starring in hits such as The Blue Lagoon, Jane the Virgin and more recently Momma Named Me Sheriff.
Cary Elwes is probably most famous for playing Westley in The Princess Bride and then Robin Hood: Men in Tights (1993). More recently he has been in Stranger Things on Netflix and The Marvelous Mrs. Maisel on Amazon.
The supporting cast is made up of Lee Ross who plays Tomas – he works in the castle, Andi Osho plays Maisie, Eilidh Loan plays Rhona, Stephen Oswald who Angus and Tina Gray plays Helen – and they make up the knitting club.
