A Very Merry Mix-Up

The film begins with Alice Chapman, an antique enthusiast who owns her late father's shop, receiving a public and somewhat clinical marriage proposal from her boyfriend Will Mitchum. Will, a high-powered real estate salesman, sends Alice ahead to his hometown of Beresford to meet his parents, Judith and Roy, while he stays in the city to close a major deal. At the airport, Alice's luggage is lost and her phone is destroyed in a coffee-spilling encounter with a man named Matt. Hearing Alice mention she is the future 'Mrs. Mitchum,' Matt assumes she is the fiancée of his brother Billy (whom he calls Billy, though Alice knows him as Will). On the way to the house, they are involved in a minor car accident and suffer concussions. Matt's parents, Penny and Joe, pick them up from the hospital and welcome Alice into their home with open arms, believing she is their future daughter-in-law. Alice spends the next 24 hours bonding deeply with the family, participating in their 'Note Game' tradition, decorating a real tree, and sharing a romantic connection with Matt, a furniture maker who values craftsmanship over profit. The conflict arises when the 'real' Will arrives in Beresford and discovers Alice at the wrong house. It is revealed that there are two Mitchum families in town, and Alice has been with the 'wrong' one. Alice is moved to the actual Will's home, which is the polar opposite of the first: his mother Judith is a health-obsessed guru follower who serves 'macrobiotic' fermented bran smoothies, and his father Roy is obsessed with business. The climax occurs when Will reveals he has secretly brokered a deal to sell Alice’s father’s antique shop to a developer for $3.5 million, assuming she would value the money over the history. Alice realizes that Will doesn't understand her at all. Inspired by a story about a magical Christmas clock and a note from Matt's grandfather, Alice breaks up with Will on Christmas Eve. She rushes to the town square to find Matt, where they confess their love under a tree. The film ends with Alice and Matt running the antique shop together, having found a Civil War-era wedding ring in a new shipment, symbolizing their shared future.