Villa Amore (2025), directed by Clare Niederpruem, is one of Hallmark’s sun-soaked Passport to Love entries that doesn’t so much invite you to watch as it sidles up, taps your shoulder, and whispers, “Hey… you wanna disappear from your life for two hours?” It stars Eloise Mumford as Liara — the kind of woman who, after a breakup and approximately seventeen Italian espressos, decides why the hell not and buys the very villa where her parents once fell in love. It sounds romantic until the roof leaks, the walls crumble, and she realizes she’s legally bound herself to a pile of stone with abandonment issues. To survive, she recruits Leo (Kevin McGarry), a former lawyer who has abandoned corporate misery in favor of power tools and soulful glances.
From the first frame, the film makes one thing very clear: the romance is nice, but the real star is Italy. This movie is aggressively beautiful. Terracotta rooftops glow like they’re lit from inside. Olive groves ripple in the breeze like they were personally approved by the Mediterranean tourism board. Every establishing shot is a postcard you want to live inside. You don’t merely watch this movie — you inhale it. It tastes like lemon gelato, sun-warmed stone, and the distant memory of a vacation you still bring up in conversations.
The story follows the sacred Hallmark text: Impulsive Life Choice → Mild to Moderate Ruin → Emotionally Available Craftsman. Liara is grieving, nostalgic, and in way over her head, while Leo is the human equivalent of a calming herbal tea. He can repair plumbing, mediate emotional breakdowns, and probably realign your chakras with a cordless drill. Their chemistry doesn’t burst out in fireworks; it simmers slowly, like wine you absolutely cannot afford, until suddenly they’re having Meaningful Conversations over cracked tile and you’re deeply invested in whether a staircase gets rebuilt.
And then there is Baci the donkey, patron saint of emotional devastation. Baci does not act — he observes. He chews hay like he’s chewing on the secrets of the universe. When Liara melts down, Baci is in the background giving the kind of look that says, I have carried olives uphill my entire life and yet I am calmer than you. At one point, you will, without warning, feel your throat tighten over this donkey. I cried. Over a donkey. I will not be taking questions.
Honestly, Villa Amore has no business hitting as hard as it does for a movie whose premise is basically “woman impulse-buys Italian real estate and learns about herself.” But somehow between the sun-drenched hills, Eloise Mumford’s quietly wrecked performance, Kevin McGarry being aggressively competent with a power drill, and Baci silently judging humanity in the background, it sneaks up and punches you right in the feelings.
Baci is the secret weapon. He doesn’t speak, he barely moves, and yet when Liara is spiraling in front of that half-collapsed villa, he’s just there — breathing, blinking, radiating ancient Italian donkey wisdom like: You think this is hard? Try hauling olives uphill for 14 years.
That’s why this movie stands out from the usual Hallmark assembly line. The scenery isn’t just pretty; it’s immersive. The romance isn’t rushed; it simmers. The grief thread actually lands. And Baci somehow anchors the whole thing like the world’s furriest Greek chorus.
So yeah — not just good for Hallmark. One of the best Hallmark movies. If anyone asks why, tell them it’s because Italy heals the soul, Kevin McGarry fixes things we didn’t know were broken, and a donkey named Baci will absolutely, without warning, make you cry.
By the time the villa is restored in a flurry of golden-hour lighting and perfectly timed personal growth, you’re left with the Hallmark glow: soothed, slightly emotional, and wondering if you, too, should buy doomed European real estate. Villa Amore is warm-weather therapy with romance, ruin, and one emotionally transcendent donkey who steals every scene by doing absolutely nothing. You can stream it on Hallmark+ (and also on live TV streamers like Philo, Sling TV, and fuboTV).
MPAA Rating: TV-G.
Runtime: 84 mins
Director: Clare Niederpruem
Writer: Nick Hopkins; Tim James; Betsy Morris
Cast: Isabella Egizi; Eloise Mumford; Jonathan Dylan King
Genre: Drama | Romance
Tagline:
Memorable Movie Quote: "He broke up with me because he needed more time"
Distributor: Hallmark +
Official Site:
Release Date: June 21, 2025
DVD/Blu-ray Release Date:
Synopsis: Liara goes to Italy and impulsively buys the villa where her parents met. She soon learns she is in way over her head and must ask a handyman to help her renovate.
