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At first, it might seem like the world doesn’t need another time-loop rom-com, we already have Groundhog Day, Palm Springs, and Meet Cute, which are all great movies that follow a similar path, but how many more do we need? The Hallmark Channel’s new holiday film Round and Round is, thankfully, a welcome addition to the genre. Filled with tons of clever pop culture references and an excellent ensemble cast, the film swaps out Hanukkah for Groundhog Day as a young woman named Rachel gets stuck reliving the same day over again until she changes her life, with the help of a cute stranger named Zach.

Opening Shot: “My parents’ love story began on the seventh night of Hanukkah in 1986,” says Rachel (Vic Michaelis). “My mom was the DJ, and an absolute smokeshow,” Rachel says, as a cover version of Modern English’s “I Melt With You” plays during her DJ set that we see in a flashback. Rachel adds that her dad was a nerdy economist. Somehow, the opposites attracted and they ended up spending all night together on the streets of New York, ultimately eating donuts from Goldberg’s Bakery.

The Gist: Every year on the seventh night of Hanukkah, Rachel’s parents throw a party to celebrate the anniversary of the night they met, complete with donuts from Goldbergs. They live in Jersey, and Rachel lives in Brooklyn, so it’s her job to pick up the donuts on her way to the suburbs. But two things go terribly wrong on her way to her parents’ house: one, her boyfriend Adam, a biology professor at Columbia, stands her up. And two, a cute stranger crashes into her at the train station, and her donuts go flying all over, so she has to show up empty-handed and alone.

By the time everyone else shows up at Rachel’s parents’ house, the entire family knows that her boyfriend has blown her off and there are no donuts, thanks to her mother being a little overactive in the family group chat (relatable!). But even more annoying is the fact that the cute stranger who caused Rachel’s donuts to go flying has shown up as a guest of her Grandma Rosie. Zach (Bryan Greenberg) teaches art at Rosie’s nursing home, and he gave her a lift to the party, where he seems to fit right in with her whole family, which is so annoying to Rachel.

Add to all of this the fact that Rachel is generally going through a quarter-life crisis. She’s depressed about her job as an assistant editor, having dreamed of being a writer, and she’s sad that this is the last Hanukkah she’ll be spending in her childhood home, now that her parents are downsizing and moving to a condo that has pickleball courts (also relatable!). Grandma Rosie, sensing that Rachel needs a pick-me-up, gifts her a dreidel that has been in the family for generations, and when Rachel gives it a spin at the party, the room catches fire. Once the fire is put out, she goes to bed and when she wakes up… it’s the same day. When she tries to confide in her sister’s partner, Bex (Jess Smith) and predicts what’s going to happen, Bex looks impressed, saying “You’re like Nicolas Cage in Next!” and I think that’s the moment I fell in love with this movie because who works a Next reference into anything?

Unlike Groundhog Day, Rachel actually tells Zach what she’s going through and enlists him and his sci-fi-loving friend Seth to help her break out of the time loop. Along the way, they break down all the tropes of the classic time loop movies (Why is she stuck anyway? Perhaps she needs to make a major change to her life?) to help her stop the cycle. Sure, Zach starts falling for her along the way, but in the end, Rachel discovers that there’s actually much more to the magic dreidel she spun than she ever knew.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of? It’s Groundhog Day with latkes!

A Holiday Tradition: Rachel’s family loves a Hanukkah party filled with dreidel games, lighting the menorah, and eating their traditional sufganiyot in honor of her parents’ meet cute.

Does the Title Make Any Sense?: Yup – Rachel’s time loop, which causes her to experience the same day again and again is caused by a her spin of the dreidel. Round and round it goes, until the curtains catch fire and she experiences an existential crisis!

Our Take: Round and Round is not just a serviceable holiday movie, it’s a genuinely great romantic comedy. The actors who play Rachel’s extended family are all perfectly cast; despite the fact that the film is pure fantasy, all the performances feel lived in and very real, especially Rachel and her dad, Stan, who’s played by Rick Hoffman. (The way Stan repeatedly tells Rachel to clean up her “garbagio” feels so real, like 100% something my parents have said to me when telling me to clean my own room.)

It can feel like there’s one Hanukkah movie for every hundred Christmas movies on networks like Hallmark and Lifetime and they can get lost in the shuffle, but Round and Round shouldn’t be overlooked. It embraces its Jewishness wholeheartedly, and there’s something special about the fact that it combines a fantasy element about miraculously finding your other half with a holiday that’s based around a miracle. Add to that a great script from Tamar Laddy that’s filled with tons of funny pop culture references, realistic dialogue, and genuine warmth, and it’s just a big bowl of comfort. No notes.

Parting Shot: Rachel’s family finally enjoys a box of Goldberg’s donuts – with Zach – while we hear another cover of “I Melt With You.”

Performance Worth Watching: Suits actor Rick Hoffman exudes warmth as Rachel’s dorky dad Stan. Every choice he makes as an actor is the right choice.

round and round

Memorable Dialogue: As Rachel explains to Zach that she’s been reliving the same day over and over, she tries to compare what she’s going through to every other movie with a similar plot. “It’s like I’m in Palm Springs….The Tom Cruise movie where I’m living and dying and repeating… Groundhog Day. I’m in Groundhog Day.”

Our Call: STREAM IT. It might be my new favorite holiday movie.

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