The Christmas Wife

Recently widowed architect John Tanner chooses to stay at his lakeside cabin for Christmas instead of traveling to visit his son. He hopes to find a platonic companion who can share the holiday mood and familiar routines. This decision sets the stage for his encounter with a social arranger who will introduce Iris.

In town, a social arranger named Francks introduces John to Iris, a woman around his age. They meet in the hotel lobby/plaza, and Iris says they should meet again later at the local bus depot before departing. She makes it clear she does not want to discuss personal details at this stage.

John and Iris travel to the countryside cabin where he spent Christmas with his wife. The initial mood is uneasy as Iris remains non-committal about herself. Iris reveals that she used to be a nurse, adding a hint of her guarded nature.

The next morning John gives Iris a Christmas present—a music box—that she seems touched by. The small gesture begins to thaw the guarded dynamic between them. They start to share a more relaxed, if still tentative, connection.

Before lunch they walk in the woods and later return to the cabin to eat. John reveals he used to play the tiple at Christmas and performs it, followed by Iris reciting a Dorothy Parker poem, which John applauds. Iris admits she is not being entirely honest, but she withholds the reasons, and they share a hug.

During the night, John is awakened by the sound of the music box and finds Iris listening. He takes her hand in silence and leads her back to their rooms, where they look at each other wistfully before separating. The moment underscores the unspoken tension between them.

The next morning, Iris prepares to leave and John presses for answers. Iris reveals she is married and that the social arranger is her husband; she had agreed to meet John solely for the $500 agency fee due to poor business.

John and Iris part company, ending their planned Christmas companionship on uneasy terms. The revelation of Iris's situation makes the arrangement seem transactional rather than romantic.

On a following day, John goes to his usual cafe with a book and notices Helen Frost, a woman he had seen before also reading a book. He asks the waitress to tell him about the book she is reading, hoping to strike up a connection.

The waitress says 'She says she'll trade ya,' prompting John and the other woman to exchange smiles. The moment hints at a potential new connection and a softer note of optimism after the earlier disillusionment with Iris.

The sequence in the cafe ends with a sense of possibility for John, suggesting that Christmas may lead to new connections even after the complicated experience with Iris. The film closes on a note of hopeful potential rather than a definite resolution.