That Christmas

⭐️ ⭐️ 1/2 (Out of 5)

Locksmith Animation (Ron Goes Wrong) ventures into the world of Netflix Christmas films with an animated adventure based on Richard Curtis' children's Christmas book trilogy, That Christmas and Other Stories. This twisted tale based in the township of Wellington-on-Sea splits the difference between taking every social agenda on board during Christmas and having a heart for the season's spirit. As it starts with the most offensive interpretation of Jesus' birth since Love, Actually (a film that it weakly attempts to exemplify) to partner with the modern Santa (voiced by Brian Cox) narrative, things didn't seem promising.

Then Danny Williams (Jack Wisniewski) is introduced. His tragic tale of divorced parents, an eventual love story with Sam Beccles (Zazie Hayhurst) and his endearing connection with his teacher, Miss Trapper (Fiona Shaw), begin to redeem this multilayered Christmas story. There is hope within this little quirky community on Christmas Eve. Still, it struggles to stay in the sweet spot of Christmas cheer as it attempts to include every politically correct agenda item to distract from the story's heart. As things ebb and flow between these two juxtapositions, beautiful expressions of community and care are refreshing to see in an animated project. Yet, the script is weighed down with many references to climate change and every other agenda item to the point of unnecessary distraction. Even though there are magical moments within this Christmas bag of gifts, they get lost amongst all the unnecessary lumps of carbon-neutral coal Santa throws at the audience along the way.

What should parents know about That Christmas?

While Jesus’ birth is mentioned in the film, the interpretation shows admiration for man. Still, his story gets hijacked by so many social agendas that little is recognisable. The rest of the story is a Santa-inspired retelling of how important community is for us all and how we should reconsider eating turkeys. There are great discussions for parents to have with their children about the value of being good, how creativity plays into all of our lives and the importance of investing in the lives of our neighbours. There are better Christmas films to start these conversations. Yet, for those who discover this Netflix film, there are ways to redeem this film with a great time as a family and chat about the themes afterwards.

If you would like to discuss the topics from this film, reach out to us at Third Space. We would love to chat with you about this and more.