It Takes A Christmas Village - What We Know So Far

Christmas is just around the corner, and the Lifetime Network is gearing up for the season like everyone else in the world. The streaming and over-the-air cable channel has recently announced the lineup for their annual "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" marathon (via the official A&E Networks website), which spans from November 12 to December 25. 30 new made-for-television films will debut over that timespan on the network, and all of them will be Christmas themed. 

"It Takes a Christmas Village" is one of those 30 new movies, and it promises to deliver a combination of small-town warmth and Christmas charm, featuring a small-town mayor and the man who's tasked with helping her save their tiny village's economy. Since it's a Lifetime holiday movie, you can naturally assume our hero and heroine will fall in love along the way. But what else is the movie about, who stars in it, and when will you get to see it? Here's what we know so far.

According to the A&E Networks' official press release for "It's a Wonderful Lifetime," it looks like "It Takes a Christmas Village" will debut on Lifetime on December 22 at 8 PM Eastern Time. Fans should adjust that time for Central, Pacific, and Mountain times accordingly. It's unlikely that the film will suffer from any further production delays, as it has been firmly scheduled as part of the month-plus long "It's a Wonderful Lifetime" marathon. 

If viewers miss the movie's premiere, they should keep an eye on their local schedules, as Lifetime tends to repeat their original films multiple times over the course of a month and it's unlikely that "It Takes a Christmas Village" will be an exception to that rule.

A fun fact: according to the film's IMDb listing, "It Takes a Christmas Village" will be released in Canada as "The Christmas Market."

Via the movie's IMDb listing, "It Takes a Christmas Village" stars Brooke Nevin ("The Comebacks"; "The 4400") as Mayor Alex Foster. Corey Sevier ("Grounded for Christmas"; "Matchmaker Christmas"), then, portrays Darcy Hawkins, Foster's love interest, and he also directed the picture. Other cast members include Alli Chung as Gina, Lynne Griffin as Gran, Ron Lea as Art Foster, James Kall as Frank, Fuad Ahmed (billed as Gabe Grey) as Brent, and Arlene Duncan as Jo. Daniella Dela Peña and Annette Wozniak also appear.

This will be the second Christmas-themed TV movie Seiver has directed. The first was "Heart of the Holidays," in which he also co-starred. "Heart of the Holidays" aired in 2020 on The Hallmark Channel and both it and "It Takes a Christmas Village" were written by Kate Pragnell. Pragnell has written multiple holiday-themed TV movies and worked as a script coordinator and writer's assistant on The Hallmark Channel's "Chesapeake Shores" in 2018.

There is currently no trailer for "It Takes a Christmas Village," but per a plot synopsis offered by the A&E Network press release for "It's a Wonderful Lifetime," the film is about Mayor Alex Foster (Nevin), who must charm Darcy Hawkins (Sevier) into loaning her his family's historic mill. 

Foster wants to run their small town's Christmas market at the mill, but convincing Hawkins to work with her proves to be a tall task indeed. Darcy is a recluse, and the Fosters and Hawkins have been feuding for decades. Alex has to pull Darcy out of his shell and melt his frozen heart, convincing him to ignore all of the bad blood between their families to do what's right for their village. When the twosome turn to thoughts of love, they must figure out if they can overcome their personal challenges to make a real go of it.