While everyone has their eyes on the Hallmark Channel and its never-ending stream of seasonal romances, I sometimes prefer Hallmark Drama, the forgotten SD cousin of the Hallmark television family. The Edge of the Garden is a perfect example of what the less famous channel adds to the lineup – that is interesting and diverse stories that are not some variation of the same five plots. An engrossing film that defies classification – though I’d call it a supernatural romance drama – this gem draws on timeless bonds of love and friendship, sometimes in the most literal way.
City slicker Brian Connor (Rob Estes) flees to Portland, Maine after his fiancée, Julie (Kelly Monaco), walks out on him for missing their engagement party. She blames him for prioritizing work over their relationship, which is a fair point because he immediately dives into a new project on the other side of the country. Brian takes charge of a small web service company, but can’t get that right either. His plans for restructuring include time clocks and professional attire, a move that doesn’t sit well with his employees.
Office politics turns out not to be his biggest worry though. Instead, it’s the disused cottage he purchases on a whim. He pays no mind to the owner’s insistence that Brian take the property as is, which he understands to mean squeaky doors and leaky faucets. Ghosts are the concern, however, and when he goes home on that first night and sees a flicker of light and a face in the window, reader, I was spooked. Brian’s not sure what he’s seeing or hearing, and his confusion grows when he encounters a young woman in his garden. Nora Hargraves (Sarah Manninen) is equally shocked to find him hanging around her house, and both believe they’re seeing ghosts. When they regain their senses, they realize that they’re from different periods; for Nora, the year is 1960 and for Brian, it’s 2010.
The story moves seamlessly between time, uncomplicated by the mechanics of ghostly communication and such. While Nora’s locket holds some magic, it’s best to take the locals’ advice and just believe in the power of old houses to conjure up weird shit. Brian and Nora talk to each other through letters tucked in the fireplace, for example, and sometimes they hear each other in the hallway, but they stay in their own time. That leads to both beautiful and heartbreaking moments as their friendship deepens. Brian advises Nora on her mysterious illness, one still unknown in 1960, and encourages her to leave her emotionally abusive husband, Thomas (David Lewis). Problems in her marriage, made worse by Thomas’s suspicions of a caring handyman, Frank (David Richmond-Peck), eventually spill into both timelines and culminate in a fiery confrontation.
The movie leaves a mark for many reasons. Estes and Manninen give moving, understated performances while Lewis is properly triggering as Thomas. I like the idea of platonic soul mates as well; the writers don’t force Brian and Nora into a romantic relationship, and that opens up a different dynamic between the leads than we’re used to seeing. Edge of the Garden is just a great example of a creative team at ease with the story it wants to tell. They bring together so many different elements, and you can see how a slight change in tone, an overemphasis on a character, or a shift in the timeline would throw the whole project off, but it comes together effortlessly in the end.
**Spoilers at end of post
Released: 2011
Dir: Michael Scott
Writer: Duane Poole
Cast: Rob Estes, Sarah Manninen, David Lewis, Kelly Monaco, David Richmond-Peck, Anne Marie DeLuise, Reg Tupper, Tim Henry, Viv Leacock, John Innes, Diana Bang, Ryan McDonell, Karen Elizabeth Austin, John Hainsworth, Fred Keating
Time: 89 min
Lang: English
Country: United States
Network: Hallmark Channel
Reviewed: 2021
** SPOILERS **
Spoilers: Brian finds Thomas in the present day, but the latter is reluctant to talk about Nora or anything related to the house, except to say that “it” was an accident and that his wife died years ago. Brian turns to his colleagues for more information, and piecing together events from the past, he figures out that Nora died in a fire, supposedly after Thomas locked her in the bedroom. Julie shows up unexpectedly that very day and he invites her to the cottage. Brian finds Nora weeping on the bench after a violent argument between Thomas and Frank, and he warns her to leave her husband, hinting that something bad will happen. At the same time, Julie finds the locket and, thinking that it belongs to Brian’s lover, throws it into the fireplace. Brian hears shouting from inside the house and runs in – only to find himself in 1960 and face-to-face with Thomas, who is ready to throw hands with this intruder. The burning locket causes the fire to explode into the 1960 living room, and as it burns out of control, Brian tries to rescue Nora from her locked room. They nearly escape when Thomas confronts the two with his rifle, but the exploding locket/fire transports him back to his own time before he can see Nora to safety.
After finally breaking up with Julie, he searches for Nora, whose name now appears in the phone book. He finds her in a nursing home, where she is joined by her husband, Frank, and her granddaughter, Sarah, both of whom know all about Brian. He brings Nora flowers from their garden, and she explains that she kept her married name in the hope that he’d one day find her.
Fits of Fury 