As This Time Each Year, Alison Sweeney’s 30th movie for Hallmark, gets ready to premiere in less than 24 hours, the phenomenal actress is also prepping fans for the debut by teasing what’s to come. According to Sweeney, the Christmas film is a far cry from the usual flicks and will feature some unpredictable plot twists that viewers will never see coming. News of Sweeney’s milestone circulated earlier this month with This Time Each Year announced as part of the kick-off for Hallmark Mystery’s Miracles of Christmas programming.

As revealed by the Hallmark icon to TV Insider, This Time Each Year is “not the typical Christmas movie” and will tackle “some complicated issues that lots of people deal with at the holidays.” She also noted, “We wanted it to be fun and funny and delightful and romantic, but also address some of the more serious aspects of family dynamics.”

Such an extraordinary project has been in the making for years as Sweeney divulged:

“I have been working on and developing this script for over three years. What first appealed to me about the premise was the idea that it was a couple that was happily married and had a kid and been living the life and then something goes wrong, and they have to figure out how to work their way through it. And then everything gets accelerated and amplified at the holidays and puts the spotlight on the issues.”

‘This Time Each Year’ Will Resonate With Everyone

This Time Each Year will see Sweeney portray Lauren, who was once in love with Kevin (Niall Matter), but almost a year after separating, they now focus on co-parenting their young son, Charlie (Ezra Wilson). However, Kevin is not deterred by the separation as he is determined to make their family whole again.

Despite the plot being different from what fans expect of Hallmark’s holiday productions, the network did not shut it down as discussions had been ongoing about doing “something that is outside their traditional wheelhouse.” Sweeney further shed light on the film’s story line, saying:

“That’s the thing that everyone said to me when we were making this movie: ‘I feel like this is my story,’ ‘This is my family,’ ‘I know someone who’s been through this.’ It’s super relatable and identifiable to lots of people for lots of reasons, and I think there’s a character in this movie for everyone. So, Hallmark was very enthusiastic, and it was all about how to navigate the telling of the story within what we see as the trust that Hallmark has built with their audience, that it’s the kind of movie you can watch with your kids and your grandparents. We wanted to tell a deeper story but still honor what people want from a Christmas movie, which is fun and romance and Christmas.”

This Time Each Year will premiere on Hallmark Mystery on Thursday, October 24.