By Sarah Osman

Hot Frosty is dumb all right, but it’s also endearing, funny, and cute.

A hot and heavy moment for Lacey Chabert and Dustin Milligan in Hot Frosty. Photo: Netflix

When I first heard the premise for Hot Frosty, I thought the executive in charge of holiday movies at Netflix may have gone mad. The premise: a snowman comes to life as a hot, hunky guy (hence the name: Hot Frosty). This was either intended to be a brilliant parody of Hallmark movies (now and forever) or clinching evidence that the nadir of holiday-movie romance ideas had been reached — the suits were scratching at the dregs of the heartthrob barrel. My fear was that the proceedings could go one of two ways: either Hot Frosty would be a super-saccharine Christmas treat or a pill too bitter to swallow. Either way, I suspected an incredibly stupid car wreck, and had to rubberneck for myself.

Hot Frosty is dumb all right, but it’s also endearing, funny, and cute. Cathy (played by the queen of Hallmark films herself, Lacey Chabert) is struggling to take care of herself after her husband passed away. Her friends at the local vintage shop recognize her plight and give her a scarf in the hopes that it will help her meet someone. After work, Cathy walks by the local snow sculptures in town and marvels at one with amazing abs — we are talking the muscular washboard of Hercules. Noticing that the snowman on each side of him is wearing a scarf, she drapes her gifted schmatta over the Adonis snowman. Later that night, the prime piece of snowcake (Dustin Milligan) comes to life and wanders buck naked through town — much to the delight of one witness. He breaks into the vintage shop and steals a workman’s suit with the name Jack stitched on it. He tracks down Cathy, who hesitantly agrees to help him.

Unlike other romantic interests in holiday movies, Jack the Snowman is not a stereotypical hunk. Yes, he is handy around the house — but that’s only after he eyeballs a lot of TV. He doesn’t hate the holidays; quite the contrary, he’s fascinated by Christmas and decorates Cathy’s house. He’s hot, but he’s not aware of how handsome he is. He hasn’t appeared to show Cathy the true meaning of Christmas, Hanukkah, or Kwanzaa — she accidentally brought him to life and now he just wants to hang out with her. Jack does end up helping Cathy discover “meaning,” but not necessarily in the way you’d expect. Jack’s charm can be credited to the comic writing (he takes Cathy’s suggestion of “laying low” by literally lying down) and Milligan’s portrayal of the at times clueless snowman. Milligan could have played Jack as slow and thick; instead, he gives him just the right amount of twee.

What makes Hot Frosty work so well is its sly, absurdist sense of humor. None of the townspeople find it strange that a hot snowman magically came to life — except for Cathy. They love Jack — especially the more mature ladies in town in a running gag that’s never not funny. Craig Robinson plays the local sheriff who is hellbent on keeping his town crime-free, even if that means arresting people for “excessive candy unwrapping” at the movies. Robinson has a ball with the role, hamming up every cop show caricature. His partner, played by Joe Lo Truglio, is another inanely clueless male. Rather than assume Jack is up to no good, he teaches him how to dance and prepare for a date. It could be a surreal episode of Brooklyn Nine-Nine. Plenty of throwaway jokes contribute to the film’s endearing goofiness; at one point, Cathy sees Lindsay Lohan in another Netflix Christmas movie and comments that she looks a lot like a girl she went to high school with.

Yes, parts of Hot Frosty are cheesy, like when the adults attend a middle school dance. But there is a weird sincerity here that is usually missing in Hallmark parodies, which are intent on going for Santa’s jugular. Best of all, a sweet ending wraps the whole film up with a nice little bow. Considering the current state of the world, how can I complain about a successful bit of holiday cheer and escapism? Hot Frosty embraces its ridiculous premise — yes, this is a hot snowman with abs — but adds enough holiday magic to make this more than pumping iron, Yuletide edition.

Sarah Mina Osman is based in Los Angeles. In addition to the Arts Fuse, her writing can be found in Huffington Post, Success Magazine, Matador Network, HelloGiggles, Business Insider, and WatchMojo. She has an MFA in Creative Writing from the University of North Carolina Wilmington and is working on her first novel. She has a deep appreciation for sloths and tacos. You can keep up with her on Instagram @SarahMinaOsman and at Bluesky @sarahminaosman.bsky.social.