REVIEW: ‘Hot Frosty’ Is Just As Silly As You Think

This is the time of year when holiday films can range from serious to heartfelt to sheer nonsense, and Hot Frosty falls in the latter category. Much like the tale of Frosty the Snowman, Netflix’s latest addition to their Holiday Movie Universe requires some suspension of disbelief to make it land. And it mostly sticks. There’s a little slush here and there, with an ending that is hastily tossed together like a pizza. However, Hot Frosty is just as silly as its premise promises, with Dustin Milligan giving peak golden retriever energy and then some.

It has been two years since Kathy’s (Lacey Chabert) husband passed away, and little reminders of his absence still linger. With the heat still broken and her late husband’s diner to run, Kathy finds it hard to let go fully. When she’s gifted a long red scarf, she doesn’t think much of it despite the romantic potential the scarf can bring. On her way home, she comes toe-to-toe with a rather swole-looking male snowman, and she decides to offer him some level of decency and cover him with the scarf. As luck would have it, the scarf is magic and turns him into a real boy!

Hijinks immediately ensue once the snowman turns into incredibly cold flesh and bone. Taking on the name of Jack (Dustin Milligan), he wastes no time finding Kathy to deliver her with praise and good vibes. At first, Kathy treats him as anyone would, as someone having a psychological break. But, over two weeks, this little ol’ snowman begins to warm her heart to the possibility of magic and new beginnings. While the ending is rushed and requires some glossing over mentally as to how it arrived there in montage-y fashion, there’s no denying that the journey in Hot Frosty is utterly adorkable.

The joy of Hot Frosty is found in Dustin Milligan’s utter commitment to his character’s golden retriever energy from beginning to end. As Jack, there’s an expected innocence that never wavers, even as he adapts quickly to his surrounding environments. Due to his “special” snowman physiology, there are moments of humor that thankfully don’t run too stale, like him constantly melting due to everyone’s heat being on during the holidays.

However, unlike Jack’s humanoid form, the romance isn’t fully fleshed out. Instead, the chemistry between Jack and Kathy reads more platonic and, at times, almost borders on a mother/child dynamic due to how innocent Jack starts post-thaw. By the time Hot Frosty ends, the romantic outcome feels more rushed and forced, resulting in a less-than-earned feeling. A little more finessing there might have sold the potential for romance between the two, but you can’t fake chemistry. And the chemistry between Milligan and Chabert is more friendly and mild at best.

Despite its romance elements, Hot Frosty strangely succeeds in exploring grief, even if it decides not to dive too deeply into those waters. Sometimes, to move on, we need someone familiar enough with the tenuous state of mortality, like a snowman in danger of constantly melting. It does seem a little cruel of screenwriter Russell Hainline to have that sword of mortality hanging over their relationship when Kathy does accept that she’s face-to-face with a snowman come to life. But that’s what makes the power of magic by the film’s climax semi-believable.

That said, there must be something in the town’s water in Hot Frosty because the speed at which everyone jumps on the train of, “Yes, this snowman is very much alive,” is gobsmackingly hilarious. Granted, this is a film set in the Netflix Holiday Movie Universe, so it does lend itself to characters accepting the unacceptable rather quickly.  It’s just glaringly obvious how quickly everyone, except for the Sheriff (Craig Robinson) the town barely tolerates, jumps on the Jack train.

Speaking of the Sheriff, Craig Robinson commits to the generally thankless role of the Grinch character of Hot Frosty. There is a good cop/bad cop dynamic between Robinson and Joe Lo Truglio that highlights the extremes Robinson’s Sheriff goes to in the name of combatting crime. The Sheriff’s schtick gets old fast, which is likely the point. However, despite Robinson’s best efforts, the character is pretty unbearable, and his come-to-Jesus moment comes too little too late.

Hot Frosty is ultimately a silly, fun time. The premise of a snowman coming to life as a flesh and blood man and engaging in shenanigans around town lends itself to that, and therein lies its strength. If you’re going into the film expecting a solid romance, this holiday venture may not be the best film to pop on to fill that void. However, Hot Frosty is a pleasant enough distraction if you want something light and fluffy, even as it shallowly explores grief.

Hot Frosty is streaming exclusively on Netflix.