Christmas at the Catnip Cafe: Movie Review

Cats and a good romance make a perfect pairing.

Christmas at the Catnip Café is as adorable as you would expect. Cats everywhere, mostly. While Hallmark surrounds the cats with the usual big city girl meets the good-natured small town boy typical rom-com plot, it also needs such a story. Keeps things simplistic while viewers can just watch cats and the occasional rare dog as the romance unfolds.		2025 Directed by: Lucie Guest Screenplay by: Tracy Andreen, Elena Valdez Starring: Erin Cahill, Paul Campbell
Olivia (Erin Cahill) is the big city girl – a successful marketing exec in California trying to buy an expensive condo; she then receives word that her aunt who passed away left her 50% of a cat café in upstate New York. Perfect for her, she just needs a quick sale and then can buy her dream home. Upon arriving in Felcity, New York, Olivia and Ben share an immediate attraction, they’re just strangers through a window but they couldn’t stop smiling at each other. Until they discover that they’re co-owners of the cat café and Ben has no intention of selling and is displeased with Olivia’s very cold attitude towards the café and the town. Paul Campbell stars as Ben, the small-town boy who works as a veterinarian and is also the town handy-man. I have no clue why they threw in the town handy-man part, do they not think he’s busy enough as a vet? Regardless, this is a great character, and a fully warm and lived in performance by Paul Campbell. Ben will melt viewers’ hearts in minutes and will have no problem melting Olivia’s heart by Christmas. The cat café will be as you imagine it – a cozy coffee shop with couches, tables, a tree, with a whole bunch of cats walking around (aka, sleeping in various places). The cats are up for adoption so clearly this café also doubles as a shelter. They mention that this is not a profitable business, because of course it’s not, this is supposedly a very small town where everybody knows everybody, and that type of town can barely support a coffee shop let alone a coffee shop for cats and a pet adoption shelter. Hallmark not understanding small towns is nothing new and is just a minor blimp in an adorable cat romantic comedy. The cats are the hook and the draw, but Ben and Olivia’s romance is one of the better ones you’ll see this Christmas. They have real conversations with one another and really are great together. Christmas at the Catnip Café is a must watch for cat lovers and for Hallmark Christmas movie lovers, so really you can’t go wrong (unless you don’t like cats).

Want a different Christmas movie or just more holiday-themed movies? Holiday Movies