Patrick Street Pictures

Cara Rudland thought she’d left her Southern roots and troubled family far behind, but returns to the scenic Lowcountry of her childhood summers after losing her job in Chicago. There, she reconnects with her mother Lovie, who has been caring for her young, pregnant friend Toy in her charming beach house.

Leah's 30th birthday is on Christmas Eve, the same day as her brother's wedding. Her childhood crush is back in town for the wedding and he is determined to make sure her birthday does not go by the wayside.

Three couples at different parts of life navigate big turning points in their lives over the holidays.

In 1960, Eli and Penny take in Eli’s curmudgeonly father, Walter, and are forced to navigate some tricky family waters to get through the holidays while also working on a Christmas themed time capsule for son Alex’s school project. In 1998, we see Regina and Nelson’s first meeting: stuck together when a blizzard strands Nelson in Regina’s home on Christmas Eve. In 2015, Jessie faces a big challenge while planning her sister’s last-minute Christmas Eve wedding — the officiant is Tim, her high school sweetheart, whom she hasn’t seen in almost 20 years.

In 1951, a doctor wants to make the holiday special for his worried wife before he is shipped out to serve in Korea, but when she suffers a minor fracture to her arm his carefully planned out Christmas Eve plans are upended. In 2003, a newly married couple who are always in agreement about everything hosts two sets of in-laws for Christmas Eve for the first time and find that they may not have had as much in common as they thought they did. And in 2024, a couple tries to arrange special Christmas surprises for each other but keeping them a secret may be harder than they thought.

In 1966, single guy David’s plans for a simple Christmas are dashed when his neighbor Stephanie arrives with news that she won a contest to have Tommy Saunders’ Christmas Eve TV special broadcast live from her house – but used his address. In 1981, John and Lizzie learn that this will be their last Christmas on Cherry Lane after John receives a job offer in Michigan and Lizzie finds out she’s pregnant. In 2000, best friends Matt and Rebecca find unexpected feelings developing as they try to find out who is behind a series of Christmas-themed random acts of kindness.