It’s springtime — love is in the air, and Hallmark Channel is debuting a slew of new romance flicks as a part of their “Spring Into Love” event. Today, we’re zeroing in on Love, Classified.
The film follows the Bloom family, who could use a bit more water and sunshine. At the start, widowed Emilia (Melora Hardin) has just returned to her small hometown after years away from her adult children, Taylor (Shadowhunters alum Katherine McNamara) and Zach (Max Lloyd Jones). And while she is there to see the offspring she left behind, she’s also promoting her latest in a series of successful romance novels. Another motivator: a reality check in the form of a health scare. “[It] forces her into a position of facing some things that she’d been running from,” Hardin says.
Will Taylor and Zach welcome their mom back with open arms? “There’s a lot of tension, especially with her daughter,” teases Hardin. “They have to work hard to come back together.”
While her mom was away, Taylor grew her own plant shop, called Bloomeria. And she’s poured her entire heart and soul into the business venture. “Taylor is a workaholic, to say the least,” McNamara says. “She’s been through a lot in the last several years with her father passing and her mother just leaving town. She shuts down the emotional side of who she is, and that tends to put a roadblock up for her in a lot of aspects of her life.”
But Taylor’s ready for a change. She downloads an app and surprises herself when she makes a love connection with a female cardiologist named Franki (Arienne Mandi). “Very much in the way that Schitt’s Creek did the whole ‘love the wine, not the label’ situation, which I love, this movie does something very similar. It just allows these characters to be surprised by love,” McNamara says. “The fact that Taylor is willing to take the leap of faith and be open to what this connection could be turns out to be a huge gift.”
Love, Classified, Movie Premiere, Saturday, April 16, 8/7c, Hallmark Channel
