Hallmark Has Made Some Choices I Haven’t Loved lately, But They Delivered Us 'An Unexpected' Banger Just In Time For Valentine’s Day

I’ve been writing about upcoming Hallmark movies for nearly a decade now, and there have been plenty of duds and greats in that time. In fact, I recently wrote about how the Christmas movie season in 2024 was a bit of a disappointment. Thankfully, 2025 has given us a clean slate, and I’m happy to report Hallmark put out a banger just in time for Valentine’s Day.

If you are an aficionado of the network, you may have already seen Lacey Chabert’s latest movie for the channel. (She recently hit the 40-movie milestone at Hallmark to note.) It’s the first time she’s done a Valentine’s Day movie in awhile and the result was pristine. In fact, An Unexpected Valentine might just be my favorite Hallmark movie to hit the TV schedule since A Biltmore Christmas came out back in 2023.

An Unexpected Valentine stars Chabert and longtime Hallmark and former iZombie star Robert Buckley, and they are a delightful duo. Their meet-cute is in an off-brand Uber competitor, where his character, Finn, is an artist and part-time driver and her character, Hannah, is the maker of fancy showpiece chocolates.

After Hannah finds a lost ring in his vehicle on Valentine’s Day, the two embark on a journey to return the ring and run into other couples at varying stages in relationships while they begin to find out they fare well together.

While recent legal reports about the network mentioned the 42-year-old actress is maybe starting to age out of these sorts of movies, Hallmark has done some damage control and called Chabert's "ability to help us tell meaningful holiday stories" "unique." Chabert herself has said she wants to tell stories "through every phase of life," and her latest romance also highlights people in varying parts of their romance journey, so she's putting her money where her mouth is with this project.

Why An Unexpected Valentine Is A Must-Watch On Hallmark

One thing I really liked about Hannah and Finn is that they complement one another, but often because they are opposites. She's very put together; he has too many parking tickets. But they share a passion for art and a sense of adventure, so the characters feel like a good fit regardless of their differences. Chemistry can make or break a Hallmark movie, and while Chabert is excellent about bringing her a-game every time, Finn and Hannah feel like a natural fit without having to try too hard.

Of course, that may not have been true on set, who knows? But it's a testament to the cast and crew that this movie has such a simple premise and still manages to be a banger. I also enjoyed some of the little things this movie does that add layers, including how at times Finn can't keep his camera from seeking out Hannah. It's such a simple way for the movie to develop chemistry without having to use dialogue, and it's really engaging.

Interestingly, An Unexpected Valentine is the type of premise the network has employed plenty of times in the past, where two people who’ve just met or started working together go on an adventure to return a lost item. It’s just very well done here.

Lacey Chabert is typically the network’s Queen of Christmas, but it was a little concerning when her best holiday movie this year landed at Netflix (Hot Frosty) and not at Hallmark. (Although I have no hate for The Christmas Quest– it just didn’t make my Top 5 this year.) It’s interesting because her holiday movie was about tracking down a long-lost item and her Valentine’s Day movie was about returning a lost item she’d found. Now, she just needs a movie about having a lost item returned to her and she’ll have completed another sort-of trilogy.

I'm just saying, we'll be needing some Spring and Summer adventures coming down the pipeline next!