Review of Hot Frosty, directed by Jerry Ciccoritti

In the past few months, I’ve been what I call funemployed. I was on a doomed mission waiting for a visa that would never arrive, as that was my next promised gig (that didn’t work out), so I patiently and hopefully waited for something that would never arrive.

During that time, I watched a ton of television and movies. I also read a lot of books because what else could I do? It’s not like I had much to do outside of some regular freelance projects. So because I was watching all of these forms of content and reading a lot, I ended up catching up pretty heavily on this blog.

One of my missions as I watched all of these movies though is I wanted to be more mindful. My definition of this was that I wanted to be able to diversify the kinds of movies I’m watching, whether it’s through race, nationality, gender, or topic. I know I watch a certain kind of movie half of the time, and I wanted to break free of that mold.

This is how I ended up watching Hot Frosty. I watched a ton of mindless movies when I was working as a film critic, and I could easily spot this movie as falling into this category. I even didn’t want to watch it at first because of that fact.

A few days passed and I remembered my vow to be better and to watch different kinds of films. And that, my friends, is how I ended up watching this movie after a three hour flight back from Houston, Texas.

Let’s get into the review before I bore you to death with the context!

A lonely widow accidentally brings to life a hot snowman, healing the cracks in her heart.

In this movie, our female lead is Kathy, a widowed woman who finds her life falling apart after the death of her husband due to cancer. He used to fix everything, as he was a handyman, and now the diner she owns is literally crumbling alongside her. But one day, while heading to work, Kathy spots a snow sculpture competition happening.

At a nearby clothing store, she’s gifted a red winter scarf and told that it’s destined for her. Kathy decides to have a more healthy outlook on life because of this, but that night, she stops in front of the snowmen. One in particular she notes worked out more, as it has abs, and she puts the scarf on him.

Turns out that’s magical, as the snowman comes to life. He’s naked with just the scarf on, and an elderly couple spots him and thinks he’s a streaker. When he spots a clothing store nearby, he breaks in and takes the clothes. The next day, Kathy finds him chatting with the snowmen, assumes his name is Jack because the clothes he stole has that name on it, and he tells her his first memory is of her putting the scarf on him.

Kathy thinks there’s something wrong with him and takes him to the doctor, but then realizes he’s not lying: he’s a snowman. At the same time, the local sheriff, Nate, is hunting down the guy who streaked and stole the clothes. As Jack is basically a child, Kathy hides him in her house and tells him not to leave.

There, he watches television and learns to cook. He also snoops and learns what cancer is after discovering what happened to her husband, and as they watch television together later, utilizing his newfound pizza making skills, Jack asks to go to Hawaii after seeing it on screen. Kathy says it is warm and expensive, but Jack says he loves her instead.

The next day Jack is spotted by an older female neighbor, who invites him into her home to “dance” for her friends. He fixes stuff in her home, and one of her friends asks him to help her son. Turns out he’s the principal of the local middle school and needs help at the school dance.

Jack meets Kathy at the diner, where the sheriff spots them together. He starts helping out at the middle school, and spots a teen inviting another student to the ball. This inspires him to ask Kathy to the dance, she says yes, but at the dance she notices Jack is overheating. The two almost kiss outside that dance, but Jack stops himself after thinking about what would happen when he melts.

Next up is Christmas Eve, and the diner’s serving eggnog. It seems like the entire town is there as Kathy gives a speech, which is perfect timing as the sheriff comes in and arrests Jack. The doctor Kathy took him to earlier explains that he is a snowman, and the town doesn’t find this weird at all.

Kathy tries to get him out of jail, but the sheriff says the bail is $2,000. She doesn’t have enough money for that, so the town gathers all their money. They also, for some reason, don’t have enough, but then the sheriff’s son offers to help. He’s the kid who asked the girl out to the dance earlier.

The sheriff returns all of the money after that, but Kathy realizes Jack is no longer moving. She kisses him, but that does nothing, so everyone leaves feeling devastated. However, Jack comes back to life as a human and they kiss again. That Christmas, he gives her a repair guide and she gives him tickets to Hawaii.

Overall Thoughts

I think I lost some braincells watching this movie, but man does it make for some mindless movie watching if you’re multitasking. The plot itself can be really weird, and there are some snicker-worthy moments scattered throughout (i.e. Jack eating his ice to stay alive).

I’ll say this certainly is quite the unique Christmas movie. It feels like something BookTok would come up with, if we’re going to be honest. I don’t read any romantasy, but this seems like it would fit into that world. I could also see people thinking this movie is cute.

Besides the awkward dialogue and plot at times, this certainly is a memorable movie for me. And not in a good way, but I could see people liking this. It could even become a cult classic on the weirder side of the Internet—it has potential in that way.

Don’t let me yuck your yum though. If you loved it, great. Let me know why—and I’m not saying that in a condescending way at all. I’m curious! Taste is so subjective, so if you want to watch it and haven’t already, go for it. Don’t let one bad review ruin your experience.

Follow me below on Instagram and Goodreads for more.