Snowstorms, avalanches, ex-girlfriends: the perfect recipe for missing Christmas with your new girlfriend.

By Jason Hink

The gang from Romance in the Wilds (which I reviewed previously, here) is back in action for a second go-around, this time instead of wildfires and wild bears, it’s snow and relationship dynamics that threaten lovebirds Buck and Jessica in the holiday-themed adventure-romance Christmas in the Wilds, a 2021 direct-to-cable film that reunites stars Kaitlyn Leeb, Victor Zinck Jr., Melinda Shankar, Kate Vernon, and Laura Vandervoort, along with Jennifer Mote and Vanessa Sears. Justin G. Dyck returns to the director’s chair for this sequel from Imagicomm Entertainment, INSP Films and Brain Power Studio, and our friends at Mill Creek Entertainment taking care of the DVD distribution.

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When we last saw adventurous Buck (Victor Zinck Jr.) and Jessica (Kaitlyn Leeb) in Romance in the Wilds, they had just met—and under dire circumstances, as Forest Ranger Buck had to rescue smart, hard-headed geologist Jessica from her work cabin in the middle of the forest when a lightning storm caused a wildfire. In perfect TV-romance fashion, Buck and Jessica fell in love. Fast-forward a couple months later, and Christmas in the Wilds sees romance blossoming for the pair, carefree and frolicking on snowmobiles through the rural Canadian Ohio countryside (how do I know they’re in Ohio? I don’t, but their car sports an Ohio license plate, so I’m rolling with it).

It’s Thanksgiving, and Jessica is acclimating well with the Thompson family, joining the rugged, outdoor service-oriented brood for the traditional Thanksgiving dinner. But Buck’s mama bear, Janine (Kate Vernon), still feels the effects of widowhood, and she struggles allowing Jessica to help decorate and partake in family traditions. Not that Jessica cares; she’s just happy she’s there, close to her beloved Buck. Love is in the air, and there’s nothing better than spending the holiday with your new boyfriend and his family, which includes Buck’s sister Roma (Laura Vandervoort) and cousin Amara (Melinda Shankar).

But then the phone rings. And when you’re in the Forest service, you must answer the call…and that’s exactly what Buck does. In nearby Avalon County there’s a Level-2 avalanche at Avalon Pass, and Buck’s expertise is needed to put things back in order and make sure the townsfolk are okay. He must leave immediately, of course, leaving Jessica behind and on her own with the Thompson clan for the rest of Thanksgiving. Jessica’s worried—not about integrating with her new “family,” but about Buck casting off to avalanche-ridden Avalon County, where his pilot skills will be put to use saving lives. But little does Jessica know, it’s neither Buck’s family nor the weather that should worry her.

It turns out, Buck will be working side-by-side with another pilot, the beautiful Meg (Jennifer Mote), an old pal from back when he lived and worked in Avalon County. Meg is not just a friend who served in Afghanistan with is sister Roma, she’s also Buck’s former copilot, and it’s evident there was more between the two than Ranger work back in the day.

Jessica is curious when she hears about Meg. “Who is she?” she asks. But Jessica can handle it, even if she can’t concentrate at work while listening to her boss’s (Vanessa Sears) complainy ramble about all the family Christmas dinners she has to attend (you and me, both, lady). Buck will be back soon, after all…right? Ohhhh, no; after his initial work is done with Meg, a snowstorm blocks all access to the area and Meg is in desperate need of more of Buck’s help (mmhmm, right), and asks if he can stay on with the crew for an extra few days, to which he agrees. And when a few days turns into multiple weeks, Buck is now in danger of missing Christmas with his new girlfriend, and Jessica is none to happy to hear it. Will Buck make it home in time for Christmas? Will Jessica stay put when she learns Buck is stuck in the middle of a snowy forest with no supplies? And most importantly, did Buck dip his pen in company ink? Questions, questions, questions…and all are answered by the conclusion of Christmas in the Wilds.

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So just how wild is Christmas in the Wilds? I gotta say, for a relatively new viewer of these lighthearted little holiday cablers, I really enjoyed the action and excitement of predecessor Romance in the Wilds. Unfortunately, Christmas in the Wilds falls a bit short in trying to recreate the stakes that made Romance such a good genre entry, and the holiday angle is likely to blame. Christmas in the Wilds gets caught up in its holiday trappings, slowing down the momentum in spots; where action-adventure set pieces arrive with good pacing in Romance, precious minutes in Christmas are instead replaced with schmaltzy, emotional side outings featuring minor characters interacting with members of the Thompson family who otherwise have nothing better to do than wait around for Buck to return in time for Christmas.

In one of these sequences, Buck’s sister Roma, who is also a pilot and played a key part of the action in the earlier film, is stuck at home with the important job of…babysitting Jessica’s dog, Charlie (played by Ice the dog). It’s made obvious Roma isn’t a dog person, and she spends the rest of the movie awkwardly dealing with the pooch. Will they ever get along, or will Charlie tear up the place? In the other aside, cousin Amara, a communications pro and helicopter pilot who also took to the skies in the first film, spots two children (Maya Franzoi and Isaak Bailey) from her perch atop the Ranger lookout station—and they’re up to no good, illegally attempting to chop down a Christmas tree! Amara and her aunt Janine track the kids down and give them the what-for (watch Amara hilariously dress them them down: “Stop right there! Step away from the tree!”, as if they’re under arrest!). When the kids’ mother (Corey Bright) arrives at the Ranger Station to pick them up, we find out the circumstances of why the kids are looking to loot the forest.

Both asides are schmaltzy and typical of the genre (I can see my grandmother tearing up now). But don’t misunderstand; it’s not necessarily a bad thing, nor does it make the movie “bad.” It’s just more…typical of what you’d expect in a movie like this, whereas the earlier film, Romance in the Wilds, featured less of this, making it the preferred outing for this cast of characters. On the other hand, you may love the less action-more emotion slant; it’s certainly expected in the genre, and Christmas in the Wilds delivers on that front.

Christmas in the Wilds‘ most engaging story is, of course, the relationship dynamic concerning the Jessica-Buck-Meg triangle. When Buck decides he’s stayed long enough, and the countdown to Christmas is ticking down, his PTSD from his military service kicks in (a nice callback characterized in the first film) and he and Meg ditch the roads to head homeward on snowmobiles. Of course, you can’t drive through what you can’t see, and obstacles stop the pair dead in their tracks. A worried Jessica takes to the road herself on a rescue mission to get to Buck, but encounters her own issues with the snow and gets stuck. After she finds a friendly man living in the middle of nowhere (Roy Lewis) and borrows his dogs and sled (!), she mushes her way forward, putting her on a collision course with Buck and Meg…and sight she may not want to see.

When the threesome are finally on screen together, that’s when the true sparks fly and Christmas in the Wilds really gets fun, with the interpersonal drama leading to a race against the clock—and the elements—to make it home in time for Christmas.

Despite comparisons to its predecessor, Christmas in the Wilds is fun enough, and there are worse ways to spend 86 minutes with mom and grandma if you’re up for some inoffensive holiday viewing to pass the time while the turkey bakes in the oven (keep the nog spiked, though, just in case). And when mysterious details are revealed about Buck’s sister Roma’s life in the military, I’m left feeling like we haven’t seen the last of the Thompson Forest Ranger family.

Jason Hink is a writer, editor and content producer. Sign up for his Email Newsletter here. For more of Jason’s reviews, visit here.