TYLER PERRY'S 'FINDING JOY' ISN'T GOOD—BUT IT IS COMFORTABLY MID

It seems Tyler Perry wasn’t content to stick to one genre this year; Madea’s Destination Wedding is a slapstick comedy, Straw is a dead-serious dramatic thriller, Duplicity is a melodramatic mystery, and Ruth and Boaz is a faith-based Bible-story adaptation. And now he's dipping back into the Holiday genre for the first time in over a decade, this time with a Hallmark Channel-style streamer-exclusive romance flick that’s not quite a miracle in a stocking but is at least a cozy stocking stuffer you won’t regret opening: Finding Joy.

The premise? Joy McKinney (played by Shannon Thornton) is a New York designer's assistant for "Fashion Fashion" Magazine (yes, that's what it's actually called) whose career gets eclipsed by her boss. Encouraged by her friends, she follows a maybe-boyfriend to snowy Colorado, only to discover he’s not all he seems. Stranded, isolated in a blizzard, she crashes into Ridge (played by a beautifully bearded Tosin Morohunfola), a rugged loner with secrets. And just like that the formula is in full effect: holiday setting ✔, snowstorm crisis ✔, second-chance (or first-real-chance) romance ✔.

*SPOILERS FOR 'FINDING JOY' FROM THIS POINT*

Are Y'all Dating or Naw.

Like most women in Perry world, Joy's life sucks. She's an aspiring New York fashion designer who's designs have been "borrowed" by her faux French boss and she's currently being friend zoned by a romantic hopeful. Still, when said hopeful invites her to Colorado to meet his family, she thinks this is her shot at happily ever after. Except, it turns out, he wasn't inviting her to propose marriage, he was inviting her to propose best-man-dom. So Joy runs away and winds up driving through a Colorado blizzard, at which point she and her stalled car plunge through ice. The next thing she knows, she wakes up, warm and dry, in a remote cabin with a sexy mountain man named Ridge, a handsome, stoic, flannel clad, quietly intense loner type (with issues)—one of Perry’s Noble Rugged Deep-Voiced Dreamboats Who Could Be Your Salvation.

These two sexy people spar for all of 10 minutes, only to settle their differences over whiskey before a roaring fire in a snowbound cabin that looks like an unironic adaptation of baby-it’s-cold-outside.

Finding Joy is no comedy, but Joy’s besties back in New York, the stoner Littia (played by singer-turned-actor Inayah) and the harder-bitten Ashley (played by Brittany S. Hall), lighten the proceedings a bit. And there’s at least a handful of cute, besties-in-a-rom-com moments when these two are around.

Shannon Thornton brings charm and weariness in equal measure: a woman who wants more, but isn’t sure how to keep it without losing herself in the process. It’s a satisfaction just to watch her move through scenery that is trying its best—there are fur blankets, log cabins, rental cars on icy terrain—and keep it grounded. Tolso Morohunfola as Ridge gives you “mysterious mountain man with hidden scars,” which feels familiar, but he commits, so you believe there’s a connection.

Romance Novels Don't Happen In Real Life.

Clearly, none of this is high-concept. We’ve seen the formula: career woman undervalued → bad relationship → small town or remote locale → slow burn meets forced cabin romance → epiphany. The film leans into seasonal cheesiness with ambition and smartly never tries to hide its hallmarks.

But—and yes, there’s a “but”—the movie doesn’t quite escape its own checklist. Dialogue often falls into placeholders: “We both had a lot of hooch, and um—I’m trying to be a gentleman.” That’s Ridge, by the way. There’s an outhouse stuck-shoot scenario that’s either supposed to be funny or horrifying (I’m still undecided). The pacing lags during the stretch where the romance should ferment and instead feels like two people watching time pass in shot-reverse-shot. One character’s crisis amounts to “he doctor-called me for the first time,” and it’s surprising we don’t get a full interlude of him wandering through his cabin in slow motion with flannel.

Here’s the thing: around Thanksgiving and all the way to New Year’s, our cine-standards shift. We’re not out for “put a new stamp on romance” or “redefine holiday genre.” We just want a film that doesn’t demand too much from us and gives us something warm and fuzzy enough to play in the background while we cook and wrap presents. Finding Joy is sufficiently that. The winter setting, the emotional reset, the “maybe I’ll change” undercurrent—they’re all what we signed up for. And crucially: it’s streaming, so you can pause, snack, come back. No theater commitment needed.

This isn't a masterpiece. But is any Holiday romance? As someone who's admittedly gobbled up every Holiday film Hallmark's released since 2005 (none of which are exactly Oscar worthy), these kinds of films are as easy to consume as they are to churn out. Throw some fake snow on the ground, string up some lights, play an off brand, royalty free Christmas adjacent tune, and I'm sat. (And probably a little tipsy).

If we’re grading on a curve of “holiday streaming content,” this one gets a pass from me. It’s not layer-cake rich or deeply memorable, but it’s clean, middle-of-the-pack, and contains enough charm to warrant a watch. 2025 may be the Year Of Our Lord Save Me From Tyler Perry, but this one—like most made for TV holiday films—ain't half bad.

2.5/5★: Merry. Moisturized. Mid.