Don’t be fooled by all the tweeness: pumping out thrifty Christmas romance films is big business. Watching something cheap but cheerful has become a snowballing festive tradition, and for the production companies exporting them around the world it doesn’t really matter if audiences are enjoying the movies ironically or not. In this cheesy but competitive sub-genre, it looks like Netflix has achieved the breakout hit of 2024 and all it took was a sexy snowman. Hot Frosty is a small-town love story centred around Cathy (Lacey Chabert from Mean Girls), a young widow who unintentionally brings a chiselled ice sculpture to life via an enchanted scarf.
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Compared to the roly-poly Raymond Briggs version, this snowman (played by Dustin Milligan from Schitt’s Creek) is a hunk. But despite his gym bunny bod – no carrot but lots of …