Lacey Chabert and X-Men Star’s New Comedy Hits Digital Today

Lacey Chabert is back on the Christmas watchlist, and this time, holiday cheer comes with a surprisingly complicated job description. She’s Making a List, the Hallmark romance starring Chabert and Andrew Walker, also features X-Men actor Steve Bacic. It arrived on digital platforms on October 20, 2026, giving viewers who missed its television premiere another way to catch a story about a naughty-or-nice inspector, a mischievous child, and a widowed father who makes professional boundaries hard to maintain. Beyond the familiar festive ingredients, though, the movie has a peculiar premise and a reunion longtime Hallmark fans may not want to miss.

Lacey Chabert’s Christmas Assignment Is Anything but Ordinary

Holiday romances often begin with a homecoming, a struggling business, or an inconvenient encounter under the mistletoe. She’s Making a List takes a different route: it turns the question of who belongs on Santa’s good list into a real job.

Chabert plays Isabel Haynes, an inspector for the Naughty or Nice Group. The company evaluates children’s behavior with a strict system, giving Isabel a clear set of rules to follow. Things get interesting when her latest case refuses to fit neatly into that system.

A Mischievous 11-Year-Old Changes the Equation

Isabel’s assignment centers on Charlie Duncan, an 11-year-old girl played by Cadence Compton. Charlie’s mischievous behavior makes the evaluation more complicated than expected. The story suggests that judging someone’s conduct isn’t necessarily the same as understanding them.

Then Isabel meets Charlie’s widowed father, Jason Duncan, played by Andrew Walker. As she develops feelings for him, the assignment becomes personal. The central dilemma is simple: should Isabel stick to her employer’s rules, or trust the feelings those rules cannot account for? With Christmas approaching, that choice drives the romance.

The Reunion Behind the Holiday Romance

For viewers who enjoy Hallmark’s familiar faces, Chabert and Walker are a big part of the appeal. Both lead the film, and their shared history gives this particular pairing an extra point of interest.

She’s Making a List marks their first holiday movie together and their first on-screen reunion since My Secret Valentine in 2018. Those are two separate milestones: they’ve worked together before, but this is their first Christmas movie as a pair.

Why That Casting Detail Matters

A reunion gives returning viewers a reason to be curious before the plot gets going. Here, Chabert and Walker find themselves in a story where attraction is tangled up with Isabel’s responsibility to evaluate Jason’s daughter. Her romantic obstacle is built right into the reason she enters the family’s life.

That setup gives the film more to work with than a chance meeting followed by seasonal sparks. Isabel isn’t just deciding whether to pursue someone she likes. She also has to consider what her growing attachment means for a job that’s supposed to follow firm standards.

Where the X-Men Connection Fits In

The superhero connection comes through Steve Bacic, who appears as Rudolph. His X-Men credit makes an attention-grabbing hook, but this is a Christmas romance, not a superhero crossover. Chabert’s Isabel and Walker’s Jason remain at the heart of the story.

Bacic joins a supporting cast that also includes Alessandro Miro as Giuseppe and Dax Belanger as Santa. Those character names make it clear that the movie embraces its festive setting rather than using Christmas as mere background decoration.

The Main Cast at a Glance

Want to place the faces before pressing play? Here are the principal performers and their roles. Director Stacey N. Harding brings together the family storyline and the film’s unusual holiday workplace premise.

• Lacey Chabert: Isabel Haynes, an inspector for the Naughty or Nice Group.
• Andrew Walker: Jason Duncan, Charlie’s widowed father.
• Cadence Compton: Charlie Duncan, the child at the center of Isabel’s assignment.
• Steve Bacic: Rudolph.
• Alessandro Miro: Giuseppe.
• Dax Belanger: Santa.

How to Watch She’s Making a List at Home

The movie first premiered on Hallmark Channel on December 6, 2025. Its October 2026 home-viewing release brings it back into the mix just as audiences start planning another season of Christmas movies.

According to DVD Release Dates, digital rental and purchase options include Amazon Video and iTunes, with the digital release dated October 20, 2026. A DVD edition is scheduled for October 27, 2026, so physical-media collectors have a separate date to keep in mind.

At about 85 minutes, the film is a fairly compact addition to a holiday viewing schedule. It’s listed as a holiday romance, so the unusual inspection-business concept is the setup for a Christmas love story, not a promise of a completely different genre.

The Reviews Suggest This One Could Divide Your Watch Party

An unconventional premise can help a holiday movie stand out, but it doesn’t guarantee every critic will fall for it. Reviews of She’s Making a List have been mixed, with critics responding differently to its blend of seasonal romance and naughty-or-nice bureaucracy.

Decider criticized the film for lacking the holiday charm it expected. Pop Heist, meanwhile, called the premise very original and totally bonkers. Those reactions suggest the very thing that sets this film apart may also determine whether its approach works for you.

Rotten Tomatoes lists three critic reviews, but no overall Tomatometer score. A handful of reviews isn’t the same as a broad critical consensus, and there’s no aggregate percentage here to settle the debate.

The strongest reason to give this one a look is its particular combination of familiar stars and an unfamiliar setup. Chabert and Walker bring the reunion, while Isabel’s rule-bound assignment creates the complication. If your Christmas watchlist has room for a romance where falling in love could interfere with deciding who belongs on the nice list, this digital release offers an easy way to check it out.