Holiday Unplugged, the new Hallmark Channel Christmas movie starring Nikki DeLoach and Juan Pablo Di Pace, premieres tonight, Saturday, November 7, at 8 p.m. ET during week four of Countdown to Christmas 2026, and it streams tomorrow on Hallmark+.
It is the first Hallmark movie made with Michaels craft stores, and it took me through a lot more grief than I expected. Holiday Unplugged is the middle movie of week four, after Merry Memories on Friday and before A Season of Promises on Sunday.
What Happens in Holiday Unplugged?
DeLoach plays Sally, an art teacher who has spent the last 10 years honoring the memory of her late husband, Jake, while raising their kids, Keegan and Boo, played by Brandon Ironside and Remy Marthaller. Feeling ready for love again, she joins a dating app and gets matched with Damon, played by Di Pace, a former colleague who taught her kids’ kindergarten class. Jake co-founded a website that saved family home videos. When a server move wipes out Sally’s videos of him, and her phone with the backup copies shatters, the only hope left is finding the original tapes. Sally does not want Keegan and Boo to know the videos are missing, so she buys time by declaring a screen-free Christmas while she searches in secret. After she runs into Damon at his uncle’s antique store, he joins the hunt and the two grow closer. Keegan and Boo discover the fun of unplugging and spending time with their grandparents, who grumble at first and then come around. When every lead runs out, Sally has to face the chance that the videos are gone for good, and the family learns to cherish old memories while making new ones.
I went into this movie thinking we would be convinced to unplug and make a craft, and it does just that. It also made me want to go make copies of all my photos and videos. I had never stopped to think that those could all be gone, and I would be crushed. Thanks, Hallmark. Nikki DeLoach brings a vulnerability that is easy to relate to. As a mom, I would do anything to keep my kids from even a moment of heartache, and Sally goes to great lengths to shield her kids from hurting, even while she is hurting herself. I would do the same thing. What I wanted more of was Juan Pablo Di Pace. He felt a little underused in the story, and I would have happily taken more scenes with Damon.
The Michaels tie-in goes beyond the screen. Michaels is hosting Hallmark crafting classes in its stores through December, and today, Hallmark artists are at special workshops at the New York City and Lenexa, Kansas, stores. Upcoming classes include a holiday ornament on November 8 and a Kids Club clay figurine class on November 14, with more crafts on the calendar into December. Behind the camera, Zac Hug wrote Holiday Unplugged, and he wrote some of my favorite Countdown to Christmas movies, including Ghosts of Christmas Always and three of the Christmas in Evergreen movies. Michael Robison directed. He is responsible for seven movies this year, including Toast to Italy and Two for Tee, along with many other Hallmark movies over the years.
How to Watch Holiday Unplugged
Holiday Unplugged premieres Saturday, November 7, at 8 p.m. ET and 7 p.m. CT on Hallmark Channel, and it streams Sunday, November 8, on Hallmark+. Hallmark Channel also has encores on Sunday, November 8, at 6 p.m. ET, Friday, November 13, at 10 p.m. ET and Tuesday, November 17, at 8 p.m. ET. Find every review in our Countdown to Christmas 2026 hub.
