In 2023, Hallmark blessed us with a time loop Hanukkah movie, “Round and Round,” to high praise. This year, they’re giving us Hanukkah with a side of magical realism again: “Eight Nights for Love,” a movie with a magical menorah, co-written by the writer of “Round and Round.”
“Eight Nights for Love” tells the story of best friends Hannah and Ethan, played by Hunter King (“The Young and the Restless”) and Dan Jeannotte (“Star Trek: Strange New Worlds,” “The Bold Type,” “Good Witch”). Hannah, who works for a large auction house in New York City (think Christie’s) is excited for some time off over the winter holidays — but then Ethan comes home with an exciting but maybe not so relaxing work proposition: He has convinced his wealthy boss’s daughter to sell their family’s collection of Judaica through Hannah’s auction house, on the condition that Hannah handles the sale. An antique menorah and a mysterious guide named Pearl take Hannah back to a different time in her life on each night of Hanukkah, leading her to discover that maybe Ethan is more than just her best friend.
Hallmark’s photos from the film give us a few glimpses of what to expect, including a Hanukkah celebration that appears to double as a latke cook-off. Among the latke prep props on the counter is a hand grater, making us wonder if this family has had the grater versus food processor debate that resurfaces every Hanukkah in the Kveller offices. (A food processor may be easier, but there’s just something about shredding your knuckle skin while peeling potatoes that makes you feel closer to your ancestors, you know?) In the latke cook-off scene, Ethan is wearing a shirt from a summer camp — could it be a Jewish summer camp he and Hannah attended together?
“Eight Nights For Love” also stars Lauren Collins (“Degrassi: The Next Generation”), Nicole Power (“Kim’s Convenience”), Darrin Baker, Gabriel Burrafato, Tina Jung and Felicia Shulman. It was co-written by Tamar Laddy (“Round and Round”) and Amy Meyerson.
You may recognize Hunter King as the lead in many other Hallmark films, her stint on “The Young and the Restless,” or the resemblance to her younger sister Joey King, one of the stars of Kveller favorite “We Were the Lucky Ones.” The sisters are Jewish — Joey even got a Hebrew tattoo in Tel Aviv.
Hallmark has included Hanukkah movies — well, one Hanukkah movie in a sea of Christmas movies — in its holiday movie lineup since 2019. Some of those films, especially the earlier ones, used Hanukkah in relation to Christmas: a Jewish character teaching their love interest’s family (and the Hallmark audience) about Hanukkah, or a Jewish character celebrating Christmas with their love interest and finally experiencing the Christmas they’ve been denied their whole life. Appearing on the Torah Smash podcast last year, co-writer Tamar Laddy pushed back on this narrative as she talked through writing “Round and Round.”
“I just wanted to make a movie that was a little different, where it was… inside baseball.” Anyone can relate to the film, she clarifies, “but I wanted it to be like one for us.”
Laddy and the team at Hallmark knocked it out of the park with “Round and Round” — and we have high hopes for “Eight Nights for Love”!
“Eight Nights for Love” premieres Nov. 29 on Hallmark, and streams the next day on Hallmark+.
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