How Come Jack Doesn’t Melt?

The days are shorter, the air is chilling, and Netflix just released Hot Frosty — the perfect Christmas rom-com to keep viewers warm and cozy throughout the upcoming holiday season. The film stars Lacey Chabert (Mean Girls) as Kathy, a widow unable to move past her husband’s untimely death. She puts all of her energy into taking care of everyone around her, hoping to be distracted from her grief and just make it through each day. All that changes when she is gifted a magic scarf that transforms a hunky snowman contest entry into a real-life suitor, Jack, played by Dustin Milligan (Schitt’s Creek).

This reimagining of a classic Christmas fairy-tale endears audiences (and makes them sweat). It gets away with cheesy jokes and the superficial oggling of a snowman come-to-life through its heartwarming sincerity and messages about spreading joy to find one’s own. However, snowman stories of the past usually include a sad but necessary ending that melts its leading man and the hearts of the characters he touched. So, why does Hot Frosty subvert this expectation by keeping Jack alive?

The Plot of Hot Frosty

Like a lot of romantic movies, Hot Frosty emphasizes its happy ending by contrasting it with a sad beginning. Following the tragic loss of her husband, Kathy’s personal life is cold. Not only is she ignoring the home repairs keeping her living space icy, but also her empty love-life that freezes her in place. Instead of caring for herself and trying to move on, she focuses on her neighbors in small-town Hope Springs, particularly by serving them food and kindness at her café.

After dropping off lunch across the street for her friend and Reclaimed Rags store owner Mel (Sherry Miller), Kathy is noticeably not fine for the holidays. So, Mel gifts her a scarf that supposedly helped her find her current husband, Theo (Dan Lett), hoping that Kathy gets the happiness she deserves, too. Not needing a scarf and unaware of its magic, Kathy wraps it around the neck of a sexy snowman sculpted for a town-wide contest. After walking away, the snowman suddenly comes to life.

The next morning, Kathy finds the naive and scantily-clad snowman roaming the town center, unbothered by the biting winter weather. Always one to help, she takes care of him despite not believing his origin story. They give him the name Jack, visit the doctor to discover a body temperature below 30 degrees, and hide him at her home to avoid Sheriff Nate’s (Craig Robinson) investigation into the newcomer. Neither of them know how long Jack has, but his intense fevers and need for the cold suggest his days are numbered.

Kathy Falls For Jack

Ignorant of romantic social customs, Jack immediately confesses his love for Kathy. However, his feelings are met with confusion and dismissal. Kathy knows Jack cannot possibly mean what he’s saying because the two are strangers. Additionally, she explains how unsure of herself she is when it comes to love since her husband’s passing. Although Jack is kind, overwhelmingly handsome, and clearly likes Kathy, she cannot bring herself to give him a chance. She does fear another heart-break. However, Kathy mostly just knows her limitations. To fully love someone else again, she must first come to love and care for herself — a person she’s been neglecting because of her bereavement.

As the film progresses, Jack begins winning Kathy over. He spends his days learning to cook, doing handiwork around the house, creating the Hope Springs Middle School winter dance, and helping anyone who asks with an eager smile (and perfectly-oiled abs). As Jack moves throughout his new world, he aims to emulate Kathy’s selflessness; he loves her innate goodness towards everyone.

Yet, when Kathy finally leans in to kiss him outside the school dance, he pulls away. Instead of kissing her like he wants, Jack prioritizes Kathy’s well-being over his own. She has already lost her husband; Jack doesn’t want her to become attached to him just to melt away, too. However, his emotional vulnerability, overt kindness, and loving nature already sealed her fate. Kathy cannot help but love him, a man who only wants to spread happiness. Since his desire for joy is a reflection of Kathy, she unknowingly falls for herself, too.

Why Doesn’t Jack Melt in the End?

Searching for the evidence to finally arrest Jack for streaking and clothing theft after his transformation, Sheriff Nate discovers ATM footage that proves he was behind the crimes. Jack is then thrown in jail on Christmas Eve with a bail set at $2,000. Racing against the too-hot temperature of the cell, Kathy and the rest of Hope Springs pull together the money needed to release him and, hopefully, save his life.

Unfortunately, it seems to be too late. They all carry a sweaty and unresponsive Jack outside and lay him down in the snow. A tearful Kathy attempts to wake him up before her Doctor friend Dottie (Katy Mixon) tells her he’s gone. Kathy confesses that she’s fallen in love with Jack and leaves him with a goodbye kiss. As she stumbles away, a familiar voice calls her name. Jack is not only alive, but shivering. Like all modern fairy-tales, it seems true love was the real magic after all. Jack doesn’t melt and becomes a real person because Kathy symbolically proves her love with a tear and a kiss. The film’s message then becomes clear: humans aren’t just physical bodies; they need love to truly live. Thus, Jack fully comes to life only after Kathy gives him her heart.

Hot Frosty’s ending reinforces the cliché that love is the closest thing we have to magic, and maybe even the same thing. The final scene of the film leaves viewers with Jack’s Christmas gift from Kathy: a trip to Hawaii. Heat no longer being a threat, the two of them can finally live their happily-ever-after together. No more magic scarves, just the magic between them. Hot Frosty is now available for streaming on Netflix.