Door County, Pie Star in Holiday Film

Tis the season for holiday movies. And this year, Door County takes a starring role in a new seasonal rom-com.

A Wisconsin Christmas Pie was released last month on several streaming platforms and has been giving the viewing public a taste of Door County’s holiday charm.

If you’re not familiar with the Hallmark-style film genre, the basic storyline goes like this: A charming, attractive woman returns home from the big city to a charming, attractive small town for Christmas, where she encounters a charming, attractive man. After a slow start, sparks fly. She foregoes her big-city dreams for love and a charming, attractive small-town life.

In this take on the formula, our heroine, Emma, is a pastry chef on the rise in the big city of Chicago. She returns home to learn that her family’s cherry orchard is in some sort of financial pickle. In an effort to save the day, she enters a cherry pie bake-off. But first, she must track down a secret ingredient that will ensure success. Fortunately, she reconnected with a hunky dreamboat named Mitch, who helps her in her search.

Now, full disclosure, we have not screened the film yet. The Drink Wisconsinbly Week in Review Editorial Board tends to favor movies with car chases, gunplay and high-stakes games of cat and mouse. So, we’re just going to assume the missing secret ingredient is Drink Wisconsinbly Brandy. After all, there are many wonderful cherry pie recipes that contain brandy.

It seems odd that Emma would have a hard time finding it though. Drink Wisconsinbly Brandy is available at dozens of fine retailers throughout Door County. But sometimes you have to suspend your disbelief for the sake of the story.

Anyway, the film was shot on location, and Emma and Mitch’s courtship brings them to many familiar spots throughout the area, including Lautenbach’s Orchard, Door County Coffee, Anderson Dock, Waterfront Mary’s, the White Gull Inn, Novel Bay Booksellers, and Tannenbaum Holiday Shop. They even take a spin on the Door County Trolley.

Hard to see how those two crazy kids wouldn’t fall in love after a whirlwind tour of such quaint locales. You wouldn’t even need any holiday magic or even that bottle of brandy to make it happen.

You can watch A Wisconsin Christmas Pie now on several free and on-demand platforms, including TubiTV, RokuTV, PlutoTV, Vizio, and XumoTV. If you’re on the fence, you can get a taste of it by checking out the trailer.