The Finnish Line (Hallmark Channel - 2024)

Deck The Hallmark

Watch on Philo! - Philo.tv/DTH

CozyEarth.com - promo code HALLMARK for up to 40% off your order

For King + Country's A Drummer Boy Christmas LIVE - in theaters December 5-9, 2024!

The movie kicks off on Christmas Eve with a bunch of good boys pulling a fella on a sleigh. Another guy rides up and bumps him off his sleigh. It turns out this guy is telling his daughter his story. She’s inspired by it and wants to race herself.
Cut to the present day, where we meet Anya. She’s heading to Finland for Christmas and to race in the race of all races—the 40th annual Joulurauha race. She and her best friend travel to Finland, where they meet all the other racers, including Manti, the racer who bumped her dad off the sleigh.
Anya also meets Cole, a member of the press. When she finds out he’s a reporter, she’s very reluctant to talk to him. But he pitches her an idea: he wants to do an in-depth piece on her so she can tell her story, but she’s not having it.
We get to the race pretty quickly, and Anya immediately makes her move on Manti. He’s already up to his dirty tricks with a big kick. Luckily, she recovers quickly and earns the final slot in the next round.
She gives Manti a piece of her mind, but she’s pulled away because one of her dogs, Cupid, is injured and won’t be able to continue the race. She figures she’ll have to drop out, which stings because the race costs so much money.
Her lovely cousin Lavi suggests they visit Santa and ask for help. Luckily, Cole is hanging around Santa and overhears. He offers his dog, Rue, for the race.
There are some obstacles in getting this approved, but after the head of the race committee finds out that Cole is going to write about it, he gets excited about the press coverage and agrees.
Sensing that Anya is stressed, Cole takes her for a cold plunge, and they bond in the sauna.
She finally gets the new dogs to trust Rue, and she’s feeling great about it! Later, they spend the evening with her extended family, baking goods and playing in the snow.
The next day, Anya finds out that the committee has added a new rule: all the sleds will now be pulling the same amount of weight. She’s very annoyed by it, but that’s nothing a fun night with Cole can’t fix. They go on a sleigh ride, and he lets her read his book that he’s writing. She gives him some more information for his article, but then she says, “Can I tell you something off the record?” And she kisses him! And it was awesome.
Speaking of romance, Anya’s cousin Lavi and her best friend Alice are having a "will they, won’t they" situation, and it’s magical.
It’s the day of the final leg, and Anya is really stressed, so she kind of yells at everyone. But they make up before the race.
She talks trash to Manti, and off they go into the snow. At one point during the race, she finds Manti without his sled. He’s hurt and his sled and dogs are nowhere to be found. Anya helps him out, and they end up talking and understanding each other a bit more.
Later, she tries to help free the sled from the side of a cliff but slips and falls off. She’s hanging on when one of the other racers shows up. Manti and Anya work together with the dogs to pull her back to safety. They hop back on their sleds and continue the race, and she wins!
But Cole is nowhere to be found, so she goes to find him. While that’s happening, Lavi tells Alice he likes her, and they kiss!
Cole is busy moping around but then realizes he has to shoot his shot! So, he goes to find Anya right as she’s about to find him. He says, “I’m finally being lead dog,” and kisses her. And then she kisses him back, and as they do, we see the Northern Lights.