New Christmas movie blends SC’s geography, puts Conway next door to Columbia
A new Christmas movie based in South Carolina was released this week, so obviously we had to watch and find all the places the characters went in real life.
Rest assured, unlike Netflix’s “Outer Banks” series that was based in North Carolina but filmed in South Carolina, “Christmas in Carolina” is both set and filmed in the Palmetto State. But don’t confuse it with the 2013 Hallmark film, “Christmas in Conway,” about an-already married couple.
The movie, however, is guilty of taking some, let’s say, creative liberties when it comes to the cities certain scenes are set in.
”Christmas in Carolina,” which is available on streaming services including Amazon, Vudu and Apple TV, follows the classic plot of boy (Wesley) meets girl (Elle), and they fall in love over the holidays. Wesley is played by South Carolina-native David Rowell.
However, we’re here to discuss the intriguing mish-mashing of South Carolina’s geography.
Get ready!
Throughout the movie, the characters at various times claim to be in Baltimore, while they are actually being filmed at recognizable South Carolina locations. Or, the filming takes incongruous jumps from, say, the Pee Dee region to the Midlands.
For instance, at the start of the movie, the main characters, who live in Baltimore, are shown having lunch at the Rivertown Bistro in Conway yet say they were eating in Baltimore.
After they have officially traveled to South Carolina, the couple stays at the boyfriend’s parent’s house, which is filmed in a Columbia neighborhood.
And yet, they go for a nighttime stroll on the Riverwalk in Conway, a mere 125 miles away, before returning home to Columbia.
A few days later, they visit the Door of Hope Christian Church in Marion, a good 30 miles outside of Conway and as long as a two-hour drive from Columbia.
After that, we cut to a super busy highway that could be Anywhere in America. (It’s blurry. We can’t know.)
The movie then inexplicably cuts to a 5-second shot featuring the iconic Arthur Ravenel Bridge in Charleston — Charleston!? — right before ...
... a return to Columbia.
It’s like how the TV show “Walker Texas Ranger” used to go on high speed chases through Fort Worth and seconds later end up in downtown Dallas, 20 miles away.
For what it’s worth, the only filming location for “Christmas in Carolina” that’s listed on IMDb is Columbia.
Conway City Hall also makes a brief cameo during one of the many scenes filmed near downtown Conway and Main Street.
For all the cross-state filming, it’s actually never mentioned where in South Carolina the boyfriend’s family lives. In fact, it’s as if all of South Carolina has been condensed into one generic “Carolina” locale. (The girlfiend, Elle, also mentions once, rather generically, going to “Carolina,” as if our northern neighbor either doesn’t exist or is just an extension of our beloved Palmetto State.)
Maybe the characters just enjoyed a bunch of cross-state driving every time they had dinner or went to church, because everyone loves South Carolina’s famously, ahem, pristine roadways.
Should you be so inclined, the movie is available on select streaming services for $3.99+.
If you watch it and notice something we missed, email ckaracostas@thesunnews.com and let us know.
This story was originally published November 20, 2020 at 12:31 PM.
