VON TRAPPED (Hallmark)

This is a movie about a woman obsessed with The Sound Of Music who finally makes a pilgrimage to Salzburg to get the obsession out of her system. Von Trapped sounds like a fun and camp time, perfect for anyone who has loved Singalong-A-Sound of Music, but it is actually a dark tale with a bitter edge about the fantasy life a Manchester hairdresser escapes into to flee the reality of a sad and painful existence. Caroline Quentin stars as Maria Moogan, a woman left at the altar 18 years earlier, who ran from the church to a cinema to see The Sound Of Music, and has stuck with her fantasy of happily-ever-after ever since. Now, 18 years later, she lives with her man-hating mother Kath and her daughter Lee, who lives as a man and wants a sex change so she can marry her (unknowing) girlfriend, but is gay-bashed in the process. Once Maria arrives in Salzburg to experience the Von Trapps’ real hometown, her life of fantasy begins to unravel. This is a most bittersweet 40-minute movie, with much more bitterness than sweetness, although the happy ending makes a valiant effort to get the whole unbalanced thing across the line.