If you're looking for a feel good movie, then this is the one to watch. I generally steer clear of what I consider to be children's movies, teenagers or young adults because well, I feel like there's no way we could relate. I have adult problems now :) but hey, it doesn't hurt to enter your childhood spirit and allow the warmth envelop you.
This film starts off quite interestingly. For me, when there is an air of mystery in the first few shots, there's a greater chance of getting me hooked. So, it starts off with actress Maggie Smith walking in a dark street to the home of some children( Eve, Andrea, Moppet, and Patrick) who had recently lost their mother. Their father needed someone to babysit the kids and Aunt Ruth as she is known in the film was the only available option on such short notice and the kids last option of course :)
To them, Aunt Ruth was old and grumpy ---the usual complaints young children have for people they can't quite understand. Their fears are laid to rest and mine by extension because I wasn't up for any evil aunties on Christmas day films.
Aunt Ruth's task for the entire length of this film which was released on 26 November, written by Matt Haig, directed by Gil Kenaan and adapted from a book of the same name, was to tell them a bedtime story. It is this bedtime story that constitutes the movie and makes it Christmassy.
Keep in mind though that this is a fantastic story. so be ready to lay aside your adulty realistic mind for some fairytales.
Aunt Ruth's fairy tale is about a boy named Christmas whose mother had died a couple of years back. Christmas was the name his mother sometimes called him and the name he went majorly by was Nikolas. He lived with his loving father Joel who was a woodcutter and they both struggled to make ends meet. Nikolas's late mother believed in Elves and magic and told him stories when she was alive of the place of Elves called Elfhelm. Through her stories, he came to believe that this was the happiest place on earth.
One day, the King invites his subjects to come for a meeting where he discusses that the people needs hope and encourages them to go far and wide to find hope. Health reforms, or food was not on his list of priorities and I found this scene funny as he wasn't exactly menacing. Just a regular guy who happened to be King.
A very important part of this story which I hope the photo I have used to draw your attention to, is the pet Nikolas saves from his father's axe. This pet is a mouse he calls Miika whom he hopes to teach to talk. Miika indeed learns to talk as the film progresses when his father and a group of other men travel far to find whatever would symbolize hope in hopes(lol) of getting a reward from the King. His wicked aunt Carlotta who his father leaves to care for him bullies him a lot till he decides to go in search of his father in the cold and unknown.
From here the adventure begins. We see Nikolas in various situations showing a heart of kindness, rescuing animals and people, not letting the cruelty of the world becloud his sense of judgement and triumphing in the end as he brings hope to the people. He is a resilient boy with maturity beyond his years. I was impressed and I had to encourage myself to let go of my bias against children or Christmas films to watch them as I could learn a thing or two from them.
A notable quote from the film is "I am (heart broken) but I still love mummy with the broken pieces". It was spoken by Moppet, one of the boys whom Aunt Ruth had come to watch over. He says this to his aunt when she looks at them and declares them heartbroken still from their mother's loss. I like how the movie also acts as a support for kids who might have lost a parent in this season of cheer and celebration. It can't be easy living through it. I should know because I lost my mum three days after Christmas a decade and a year ago.
I really liked the voice actor for the mouse Miika and this was done by Stephen Merchant. I'd initially thought the voice I'd heard was Chris O'Dowd. Maybe they sound similar. I guess you'll be the judge of that.
As a Christmas film with warmth, I'd rate it a 10/10.
Cheers!