For many people, a familiar pastime in the weeks leading up to major winter holidays is gathering with family members and watching holiday movies, be they in a theater or on television. While vaccines are more widely available now than they were last year, for some plans still remain the same this holiday season, unsure about going to movie theaters. However, this shouldn’t stop us from enjoying holiday movies with friends and family.
During the month of December, therefore, the Falls Free Press will reprise “The 12 Films of Christmas,” focusing on new holiday movies for the year 2021—a year that can still do with plenty of spirit. We will review each film, whether naughty or nice, and let you know where to watch it.
It all starts as a common traditional Christmas together as a family, with relatives traveling across the country to reach the Christmas estate. That is, Christmas, the family surname. Nothing bad can happen with a name like that at this time of year, right? When the Christmas sisters reunite this year, however, they get a surprise visit from their 27-years absent father. This is the main focus of Netflix’s newest holiday narrative, Father Christmas is Back.
Nathalie Cox plays Caroline Christmas-Hope, who, with her husband Peter (Kris Marshall), plans to have the best holiday week with her sisters and mother, including a Christmas carnival, a visit to the nursing home with a bag full of gifts, and the nativity musical starring their daughter Daisey. Unfortunately, each of her sisters have their own baggage: quiet and studious Paulina (Naomi Frederick) plans to continue composing her nine-foot thick dissertation about the Beatles; fashion model Joana (Elizabeth Hurley) has a new boyfriend with a Rolls-Royce and hates children; and youngest sister and rebel Vicky (Talulah Riley) has spent the last year couch surfing across America. When their father James (played by Kelsea Grammer) and his much younger girlfriend Jackie (played by Doom Patrol’s April Bowlby) arrive unannounced, the entire family is left silently abashed.
Told across three days leading up to Christmas, the family faces challenges and surprises as they try celebrating each item on Caroline’s list while also dealing with their frustration over their father’s long absence and every common disaster that comes along, including a power outage, food storage, a smackered Santa, and a mother and uncle (portrayed by the ever-so-British John Cleese) who can’t keep away from each other. While the setting, characters, and comedy may be very English, Father Christmas tells a universal story of family frustration during the holiday season.
Father Christmas is Back is available to stream on Netflix.
