Watch: Lifetime Dropped the Trailer for Its Pickleball Christmas Movie

Will it be "love at first serve"? Possibly, but the protagonists will need to learn to hold a pickleball paddle first.

We warned you this was coming, now here it is: the trailer for Lifetime's "A Pickleball Christmas" movie has officially dropped.

And it's officially pretty cringey.

But first, a quick plot refresher

It's becoming a familiar narrative:

• Hero won't be caught dead playing pickleball, but outside forces compel him to try the forbidden game
• Little by little, he's forced to concede he doesn't hate it
• And maybe, just maybe, discovers a little something about himself along the way...

Here's the plot of Lifetime's "A Pickleball Christmas," courtesy of Entertainment Weekly:

"Fresh off the biggest win of his career, tennis star Luke Hollis (James Lafferty) heads home to Florida for Christmas, only to discover his family's racquet club is on the verge of being sold.

Teaming up with Caroline (Zibby Allen), the club's pickleball coach, Luke reluctantly agrees to compete in a high-stakes holiday tournament that could save the club. As sparks fly both on and off the court, Luke realizes the greatest victory might just be love, family, and a new chapter at home."

It's the perfect recipe for some on-the-court, off-the-court holiday romance, wouldn't you say?.

What could possibly go wrong?

"This is a serious tournament for serious players," the trailer so tantalizingly promises.

The only problem? Most everyone shown swinging a paddle looks like it's their first time. And not just playing pickleball – playing any racket sport, period.

We get it: this is for fans of easy-watching holiday romance, not diehard pickleball fanatics like us. But that doesn't mean we're not going to tune in. And judge hard.

So will it be "love at first serve"?

We can't promise we'll hold on long enough to find out. But you have our word we'll try.

Get in the Holiday Spirit with Lifetime’s ‘A Pickleball Christmas’

Pickleball gets the feel-good, romantic treatment and a familiar hero narrative in the film anchoring Lifetime’s new holiday lineup.

The Dink PickleballAlex E. Weaver

Just a reminder we've been here before

Also, in case you forgot, there's another pickleball movie in the making, albeit with a far larger budget and a few names you might recognize.

As we told you before...

If the whole "reluctant tennis purist begrudgingly enters a pickleball tournament to save the day" narrative sounds familiar, that's likely because you've heard a version of it from us already.

"The Dink," starring Jake Johnson ("New Girl") and produced by Ben Stiller ("Severance"), follows a washed-up tennis pro as he "tries to save a club by reluctantly playing pickleball to earn his father's respect."

The comedy was recently purchased by Apple. A specific release date has not yet been announced.

Apple Buys ‘The Dink’ — a Pickleball Comedy from Ben Stiller and Jake Johnson

It’s the first feature-length film on the subject set to air on a major streaming platform.

The Dink PickleballAlex E. Weaver