Review of 'That Christmas'

We follow an eventful Christmas Eve set in a snow-bound Wellington-on-Sea (England) with three stories: Danny (voiced by Jack Wisniewski), a young man living alone with his busy nurse mother whose father is unable to visit leaving him alone, but is then befriended by the stern-looking teacher MS Trapper (voiced by Fiona Shaw) who happens to have a knack with snowmen; When their parents unexpectedly wind up trapped in a snow bank their children, led by rebellious teen Bernadette (India Brown), take Christmas back for themselves after being forced by their parents to participate in year after year of “traditional” Christmas gatherings; Young woman Sam (voiced by Zazie Hayhurst) has been “nice” all year but is stressed that her “naughty” twin sister Charlie (voiced by Sienna Sayer) will not receive any presents. As to what exactly Santa (voiced by Brian Cox) has to do with all of this, well, he is around to sprinkle a bit of magic to help make things a bit better…

Really enjoyed this Christmas film that focuses more on well formed, real people than any sort of magical Christmas activities of the man in a red jump suit. Yes, the characters are very believable with very real problems that they must come to terms with even if they do not always turn out that nice (witness what happens to the ailing mother of Lighthouse Bill). It is still a holiday film so there is a lot of fun here with some great set pieces (the escaped turkeys are a hoot as are the childish antics of the parents trapped in the snowbank) and a lot of humour as well. The stories work well together with the whole thing coming together at the end where everyone comes together to save Christmas. This is a VERY English film with the dryness of the humour and the repressed emotions of the characters but it is all the better for it…

Great fun, looks amazing and touches on some very real issues, “That Christmas” is a great new Christmas film that deserves to be seen.

Rating: “I have absolutely no complaints”

Review Date: 2024-12-16

Directed by: Simon Otto

Studio: Double Negative (DNEG)

Year: 2024

Length: 93 minutes

Genre: Animation

https://www.imdb.com/title/tt14855468/