A Boy Called Christmas

Netflix | Release Date (Streaming): November 24, 2021

4.6	USER SCORE Mixed or average reviews based on 14 Ratings

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JollyNiceChapDec 8, 2021

This review contains spoilers, click expand to view. A Christmas origin adventure story of a boy voyaging to find his father who’s gone searching for Elves to sell to the king.

The film has some enjoyable moments but I think the main reason this didn’t hit the mark with me might be that it wasn’t very believable. Not the flying reindeer or invisible towns that no one bumps into somehow, no all that fantasy stuff is fine. I’m not completely dead of soul, I’m not expecting a Christmas film to be entirely grounded in real life where the big reveal is that Santa’s elves are all short in stature because everyone of their mothers drank excessive alcohol during labour.

It’s the motive that doesn’t make sense, repeatedly. The king announces to the town that everything is not quite as great as they all would like. No specifics given, just you know, life is a bit rough in general at the moment and we could all do with stuff being easier and people being nicer all round. ‘Here here’ we all shout from our arm chairs ‘quite right, how relatable’. (I should note this scene contained the only joke I chuckled at during the film)

And the answer, the King reveals, is to journey away somewhere and bring back some hope. And he’s even promised an unspecified amount of monetary reward for this vague mission.

It wouldn’t have been hard to write a tangible, compelling quest. Similarly, the evil queen of elves has decreed that because humans have kidnapped an elf the only recourse is to place a total ban on all parties, dancing, frivolity, joy, basically fun of any kind. I personally couldn’t quite join the cause and the effect in my head. Kristen Wiig does a great job at being a mean grumpy abusive nanny who delights in ridiculing Nikolas (our main character). She gives a solid justification any kid would need to bail out and run away. I would have happily seen more from her.

Without doubt the least fleshed out yet most annoying character is the creepy weird Truth Pixie that we find locked in a tower for some reason who raises more questions than enjoyment. Is she a murderer? Are we supposed to root for her, She keeps talking about blowing peoples heads up. What depraved upbringing has this disturbing 12 year old had that compels her to kill all life around her. Are there more pixies around that aren’t truth versions. Where does she conceal all the explosives she carries, magic yeah right right, I forgot.

At one point she gets the attention of the guards by jumping up and down and shouting, which she blames on her honesty-based affliction. That’s not telling the truth though, she wasn’t asked a question, it doesn’t fit the explanation we’ve been provided. Whatever sickness has gripped this poor girl has full control of her motor functions and vocal chords, and takes every chance it can to put her in danger. It’s like those parasites or fungus spores that mind control creatures into making them get eaten by predators as part of their life cycle. Maybe the intention is to feel sorry for her, she is clearly living in hell.

The film tries to grab popularity by jamming in modern popular supernatural tropes; We all know that Santa works with pointy eared elves but now there’s trolls and pixies too, what next. I expect the sequel to reveal vampires and werewolves existence as well. Stephen Merchant reprises a role he knows well as the wise quipping voice of a lovable character, except this time his lines just aren’t funny.

Near the end of the adventure a boy calls the main character ‘Father Christmas’ to hammer in the reveal, should you not have pick it up yet. But it feels crowbarred in, this kid’s not a father to anyone and you’d have no reason to refer to him as Father Christmas.

The film is book ended with 2 modern-day scenes, who’s only purpose is to setup a mild reveal at the end of the film, which is hardly a revelation, adds nothing and to be honest I almost saw coming.

I didn’t really feel festive watching it. Hard to say what exactly creates the magic of Christmas and how to bottle it. Other films such as Love Actually manage to capture the feeling of Christmas without a magic elf or flying reindeer in sight. It’s a kid’s adventure film with touching moments, scenes that excite children and a heart-warming ending… with Christmas elements added.… Expand

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