There's finally a good Hanukkah movie to watch this holiday season

• Hallmark's Hanukkah rom-com "Hanukkah On Rye" premieres December 18 at 8 p.m. ET.
• Two competing Jewish deli owners, Molly (Yael Grobglas) and Jacob (Jeremy Jordan), fall in love.

Hallmark has finally hit its Hanukkah-movie stride with this year's new romantic comedy "Hanukkah on Rye." It's essentially "You've Got Mail" meets "Crossing Delancey," and it's delightful.

The Hallmark Channel began incorporating Hanukkah plotlines into its original Christmas movies with "Holiday Date" and "Double Holiday" in 2019 and "Love, Lights, Hanukkah!" in 2020. While they were well-intentioned attempts at inclusion, they ultimately felt more like Christmas movies with poorly written Jewish characters inserted as an afterthought.

Last year, the network released its first entirely Hanukkah-focused film, "Eight Gifts of Hanukkah" — a promising effort that, in my opinion, still felt indistinguishable from the rest of Hallmark's Christmas catalog.

"Hanukkah on Rye" finally gets it right.

'Hanukkah on Rye' is an authentic rom-com that doesn't feel like a Christmas movie, making it a rare, quality Hanukkah film worth watching

As a Hanukkah gift from each of their grandmothers, Molly (Yael Grobglas) and Jacob (Jeremy Jordan) are signed up for an old-fashioned matchmaking service in which they communicate only through anonymous letters. The catch? Molly's family owns the beloved Jewish deli Gilbert's on New York City's Lower East Side, and Jacob's family is about to open their competing Zimmer's deli on the same block.

Their budding romance is soon complicated when their true identities are revealed. It takes a Hanukkah miracle to resolve their rivalry with a surprising twist involving their meddlesome but well-meaning bubbes (grandmothers).

Grobglas and Jordan are a joy to watch, displaying spot-on comedic timing as their characters shift from enemies to lovers. Their banter strikes the balance of conveying their Jewish heritage without going overboard and turning them into caricatures.

The film's Hanukkah festivities also feel true to the holiday itself, not copied-and-pasted from Christmas traditions. There are public menorah lightings, a Hanukkah party at the local Jewish community center, and even a Hanukkah songwriting contest featuring a cameo by Lisa Loeb performing her 2014 Hanukkah-themed single, "Light."

The list of existing Hanukkah movies remains so short that even critically panned and peripherally Jewish films are typically included as viable options for Hanukkah movie nights. It's so refreshing to finally have a good Hanukkah rom-com to enjoy this holiday season.

"Hanukkah On Rye" premieres December 18 at 8 p.m. ET on The Hallmark Channel and is available to stream on Peacock.