Stream It or Skip It: ‘Never Been Chris’d’ on Hallmark Acknowledges That Tyler Hynes Only Gets Hotter with Age

Hallmark’s third weekend of holiday originals continues with Never Been Chris’d, a rom-com featuring one of the network’s biggest, most reliable stars: Tyler Hynes. But Hynes isn’t the star of the film. That gig falls to Janel Parrish and Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes, co-leads playing best buds and entrepreneurs whose friendship gives Never Been Chris’d all the feels. But does Never Been Chris’d need more romance? Or to put it more accurately, does it need more Hynes?

NEVER BEEN CHRIS’D: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Janel Parrish (Pretty Little Liars) and Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes (Charmed) play Naomi and Liz, high school BFFs whose friendship endured through college and now powers their startup app, BestPal (essentially Tinder but for making friends). From sitting far, far away from the cool table in high school to being two girlbosses on the rise, these two have made it — and now they have to spend the holidays back at home. Liz and Naomi aren’t home for two seconds before they run into Chris Silver (Three Wise Men and a Baby’s Tyler Hynes), the hottest guy in their graduating class who has grown up to be the hottest guy in town. The decades have piled up but Liz and Naomi’s crush on Chris is easily unearthed.

So, how awkward is it for two best friends to kinda sorta be flirting with, and possibly even dating, the same guy? There’s also the anxiety that comes from ex-nerds Naomi and Liz now sitting at the cool kids’ table. And to make matters feel even more like high school, these two 35-year-old women are suddenly having a lot of problems with their mothers. Like, “Geez, mom, why won’t you recognize the healthy boundaries I set with you? Ugh!” Will Liz and Naomi’s friendship handle all this stress, especially if Chris ends up Chrissing just one of them? Although I guess it would be worse if he Chris’d both of them.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: Never Been Chris’d starts with a shout-out to It’s a Wonderful Life, and that’s a wonderful comparison since both films ruminate on the choices we make that ultimately lead to the lives we’ve led. But the real spiritual predecessor I see to Never Been Chris’d is a cult classic ’90s comedy: Romy and Michele’s High School Reunion — albeit if Romy and Michele actually had invented Post-Its and were able to legitimately stunt on all their high school haters.

Performance Worth Watching: Continuing with the Romy and Michele comparison, Janel Parrish and Pascal Lamothe-Kipnes are a truly dynamic duo who complement each other perfectly. There’s actually a higher degree of difficulty here, because Parrish and Lamothe-Kipnes aren’t just playing besties. They’re working together to create the film’s emotional core, because the romance with the always smoldering Tyler Hynes is more for laughs than anything else. We have to care about Liz and Naomi’s friendship just as much as we would any of Hallmark’s leading romantic couples, and these two actors make that happen.

Memorable Dialogue: Of the still-hot Chris, our heroes say, “It’s not fair that he didn’t peak in high school.” The movie even puts the actors’ old high school photos and/or headshots up on screen whenever their character is introduced. It’s a hilarious visual gag and helps make Never Been Chris’d feel even more original.

A Holiday Tradition: Well, Liz usually goes to Hawaii with Naomi and her mom for Christmas — but not this year. Liz’s mom has also started a new tradition of sending out Hanukkah cards, even though Liz is not home to be in the photo. And then there’s the high school’s Jingle Ball, a festive dance that Liz always wanted to go to. Will this be her year? I’m mentioning it, so yes it will be.

Does the Title Make Any Sense?: While it’s not explicitly Christmas-y and therefore sticks out in a list of Hallmark holiday movies (for perhaps the wrong reasons), it is a very clever and irreverent title that actually ties into the movie quite well. Keep an ear open for the titular line.

Our Take: Chris didn’t peak in high school, and it’s good to know Hallmark’s 2023 lineup didn’t peak with Where Are You, Christmas? Never Been Chris’d is another boundary-pushing holiday romcom from an increasingly bold — yet still cozy! — Hallmark Channel. For one thing, this is fully a romcom, a hybrid of the two genres as opposed to a romance with a few light chuckles and prat falls lightly sprinkled throughout. There’s a density and self-awareness to the jokes that take the movie to a new level and beg for repeat viewings. This honestly feels like the kind of romcom you’d see in theaters in 1992, back when big studios were cool with releasing films with small concepts (high school besties both get a shot with their mutual high school crush!).

What I really appreciate about Never Been Chris’d, though, is how it takes a staple of the Hallmark holiday movie — going back to your hometown — and makes it feel fresh by making it feel real. Never Been Chris’d captures what it feels like for millennials to go home again, a generation stuck in a prolonged phase of post-college existential crisis due to the instability of jobs and, uh, the world. Naomi doesn’t know how to set boundaries with her mom, Liz is jealous of the opportunities afforded her Gen Z sister, and Chris is juggling so many identities (teacher, woodworker, handyman, vegan) that one is bound to give out. This movie made me think about how there’s something very… quaint… about how Hallmark movies usually show the going-home-again experience, where it’s usually family-centric and involves lots of slow walks down Main Street. In Never Been Chris’d, these old high school classmates get together at one of their McMansions and play Never Have I Ever (except with Christmas cookies instead of booze, because Hallmark).

While I credit a lot of the success of Never Been Chris’d to the stellar performances and the warm, multiplex-ready direction of Jeff Beesley and cinematography of Paul Suderman, I need to give special praise to screenwriter Joie Botkin. This is Botkin’s seventh season of Hallmark holiday movies, but Never Been Chris’d (as well as Botkin’s other 2023 winners 3 Bed, 2 Bath, 1 Ghost and Love’s Greek to Me) has such a strong and new voice to it. If you’re looking for an example of how Hallmark is empowering writers to take risks, you’ve found it in Botkin’s filmography.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Never Been Chris’d is another winner — and maybe even another contender for Hallmark Holiday Movie of the Year.