The Trailer for Netflix’s Hot Frosty Is Proof That All You Need is a Blindingly Stupid Title
In the proud tradition of “snowman comes to life” movies, a canon that includes both 1997 comedy slasher horror film Jack Frost and the somewhat less amusing 1998 family movie … Jack Frost, which starred Michael Keaton as a dirtbag father turned snowman, comes Netflix’s sure-to-be-essential new entry in the format, Hot Frosty. That title, if you were wondering, is not a reference to a delicious new $1 treat from your local Wendy’s, but rather a blindingly literal version of the question “What if Frosty the Snowman, but … hot?”, thrown up onto the glory of the small screen. As in, “What if a snowman with a six pack came to life?” That’s the question Hot Frosty endeavors to answer, as seen in the first trailer released today, which you can view below.
Hot Frosty is directed by Jerry Ciccoritti, whose IMDB biography helpfully identifies as “one of Canada’s most provocative and in-demand directors,” a status that we wouldn’t dream to dispute. In all fairness, the man did direct 14 episodes of the well-loved Schitt’s Creek, so presumably he does know his business. Starring is Lacey Chabert (the queen of Hallmark holiday movies), and if you’re wondering if the film (and the trailer) could resist immediately diving into the Mean Girls references, well … they could not. Lord only knows how they’ll have time to fit all the Gretchen Wieners jokes in there, though, when Chabert’s character will be busy with a very sexy snowman on her hands. As in, she puts a scarf on the powerful shoulders of an icy adonis, and soon enough he’s wandering nude around her town, looking for love. Or as the official synopsis puts it:
Two years after losing her husband, Kathy magically brings a handsome snowman to life! Through his naïveté, the snowman helps Kathy to laugh, feel and love again, as the two fall for each other just in time for the holidays … and before he melts.
Playing that cut snowman is actor Dustin Milligan, another Schitt’s Creek regular, which we can presume probably explains some part of the connection to Ciccoritti as director. He’s joined by an ensemble cast of veteran TV comedic actors, including Joe Lo Truglio, Craig Robinson, Katy Mixon, Lauren Holly and Chrishell Stause, all of whom are thoroughly in paycheck-grubbing mode. Will they be able to help this hunky, lunky, naïve but anatomically correct snowman score just once before he rejoins the liquid phase of the water cycle?
Assuming no last-minute Wendy’s lawsuit or injunction arrives to block this release, Hot Frosty is set to debut on Netflix on Nov. 13, 2024. Check out the powerfully cliched trailer below.