A Boy Called Christmas

Christmas films can be a dime-a-dozen and sometimes only exist to create some harmless festive cheer and spout an obvious message. While that could be seen as pandering and very limiting (which it is in some respects), a good handling of even a simple idea can still lead to pleasant results even if what is being displayed isn’t that new. It’s one of the most magical things about the season and allows movies and specials to get away with some things as long as its heart is in the right place, and the 2021 British Christmas fantasy, A Boy Called Christmas, is a prime example of this, being a movie that for all intent and purposes, is very by-the-numbers and even pretty forgettable outside of the first watch, yet in spite of this, doesn’t trigger a bad mood and does its job with the little it has. Needing to babysit her niece and nephews while their father goes to work on late notice, Aunt Ruth (played by the late Maggie Smith) convinces the cynical children to listen to her fairy tale about the origins of Christmas, which took place in the Finnish mountainside a long time ago. A young boy named Nikolas (played by Henry Lawfull) lives with his woodcutter father, Joel (played by Michiel Huisman) in the middle of the woods, and while poor, they manage to remain hopeful thanks to each other, even while grieving the loss of Nikolas’ mother. After being directed by the King (played by Jim Broadbent) to find something that could bring hope to their kingdom, Joel leaves with a group of hunters to find Elfhelm, a supposed kingdom of Elves that Nikolas heard stories about from his mother in his youth. After days go with his father not returning, Nikolas decides to travel with his new mouse companion, Miika (voiced by Stephen Merchant) to find Elfhelm and learn what has happened to him. After finding the hidden kingdom, he learns that it has turned into a place of misery thanks to the current governing ruler, Mother Vodol (played by Sally Hawkins) who hates humans after a group came and kidnapped a young elf. Not believing his father could do such a thing, Nikolas agrees to find the kidnapped elf and fix this issue, unknowingly becoming the fabled Father Christmas along the way. With no listed budget and a box office just as equally invisible, A Boy Called Christmas isn’t a film a lot of people know about due to it being a relatively small co-production film between the U.K and the Czech Republic, but the positive critical reception at least gave it some nice buzz. The film is largely unmemorable, features a lot of cliches, doesn’t have the most interesting characters or strongest performances, and can be a little cheesy, but at its centre, is a harmless picture that manages to be slightly enjoyable.

Based on a children’s book of the same name written by Matt Haig, the origin story of Santa Clause has actually been told several times in movie form throughout the years in a variety of ways and to a variety of results, but this one feels a lot more like something out a young adult book (something along the lines of Percy Jackson or Spiderwick Chronicles). This not only comes from the more youthful protagonist and the plethora of cliched story threads and characters presented in each example, but also the tone which is simultaneously trying to present something dramatic and complicated, but also has an energy that is subdued and approachable. It would be so easy to play this story in a way that feels too self-important and like it’s the next big telling of the classic tale, but unlike other Christmas films that often go for a more heavy-handed delivery, this film, whether due to the talent involved or just from the fact that it couldn’t due to its minimal budget and having to work outside of Hollywood, never comes across as such and instead plays itself very low-key. While this has the misfortune of making it very forgettable and not different enough from other stories that have told the story previously, it does at least make it fairly harmless, being run more by its simple but still important message, and its slight sense of heart. The script written by Ol Parker and director, Gil Kenan, can have lines that are either so generic that they’re kind of embarrassing, or so ridiculous and strange that they’re kind of baffling, but for this narrative outline of what appears to be a standard children’s book about a boy travelling to an unknown kingdom and becoming Santa, it delivers that in a serviceable enough manner, has enough of a creativity twinge to feel at least a little lively, and through passionate enough performance, some pleasant imagery and a well-meaning centre, can entertain kids and maybe some adults just enough. The directing by Kenan doesn’t do much to help make the film feel distinct, and at times the cartoony levels and sketch-comedy esque performances from some of the supporting characters (which are both qualities of his past movies) can show their face and feel a little random, but he otherwise paces the story out serviceably, leads some of the actors in a playful way, and delivers on the sentimental moments adequately without veering too far into sappy territories.

In spite of how often it has been told, Santa Clause as a character doesn’t feel like he requires an extensive backstory or history, but that hasn’t stopped Hollywood from trying again and again to capitalize on it. Despite the frequentness, very few have him as a child, so this one does at least have that going for it, but one of the bizarre things about this movie is that if you removed that element from the story, you’d be forgiven for forgetting this is supposed to be a Santa Cause origin film. Outside of a few forced in references, very little about this story feels like it needs to be about Father Christmas, as it could’ve functioned as just a tale about a young boy finding an elf city and bringing joy to his home kingdom through the holiday spirit. It doesn’t gain any more dramatic points for having this element, and due to the surprising amount of stuff that happens in this story, there isn’t even much time to sit with the notion of watching Santa becoming a reality, so it just feels like a lose thread that forgot to get pulled off. With that in mind, the set-up is passable enough, has the framework for a simple but engrossing children’s adventure, and the characters are extremely cliched but thankfully aren’t unlikeable. The film isn’t home to a lot of original ideas and the cast is pretty formulaic, with it needing to rely on the talent of the actors to make them work, and due to featuring some decently big names, it does do okay with that. Jim Broadbent as the king is played a little goofily but not to a level of being annoying, Kristen Wiig is trying everything she can to take the stereotypical evil aunt trope and make her work (which she does to some extent because she is a funny performer), Toby Jones as an elf introducing the lead to the new kingdom is perfectly fine, Sally Hawkins is so over-the-top as the villain that she’s at least interesting to watch even if it doesn’t entirely work, Maggie Smith plays a role that arguably didn’t need to be featured in the film, but she can play the blunt but otherwise kind-hearted elder figure quite well, Zoe Collenti as a pixie who is forced to tell that truth manages to deliver this one-note joke in an authentic enough way, and while Stephen Merchant as the talking mouse doesn’t have anything funny to say most of the time thanks to some generic dialogue (if anything, it probably would’ve been better if he just stayed quiet), he is a funny enough actor that even bad dialogue is tolerable to hear come out of his mouth. The newer actors aren’t as interesting and that is definitely the case for the lead. Henry Lawfull is stuck with a really bland character, given really generic lines and isn’t directed in a very interesting way, so he is fighting an uphill battle the entire film. He isn’t unlikeable and he is just a kid, but it’s not a very good performance.

You can feel from watching the movie that it didn’t have the biggest budget to work with, as being a smaller production under the banner of StudioCanal and Blueprint Pictures, it only got a small release in very few countries with it originally going straight to the Sky Original streaming service, NOW, and its film service, Sky Cinema, before Netflix picked it up and distributed it internationally. Considering how small the box office was even after it went to over countries, it showed that it didn’t gain much traction from the public and maybe only grew a hint of awareness after it went to streaming, but even then, it’s debatable, but regardless of the fact, this goes to explain why this film looks a little different than a properly budgeted feature. With that said, while you can tell through some of the effects that it doesn’t have a lot to work with, it does the smart thing and makes the little effects they have (whether good or bad looking), still look interesting, and therefore making even the fake looking stuff look pleasing. The film does have an interesting but nice look to it, which comes through the decent looking cinematography handled by Zac Nicholson that shows off these frozen mountain sides of Finland and Slovakia quite well (where a majority of the film was shot alongside London and the Czech Republic) as well as provide a sense of dynamic motion that didn’t need to be as elaborate as it was, the colorful sets handled by Gary Williamson and Holly Thurman which paired alongside the cultural appropriate costume design by Ruth Myers, brings a European folksy quality to the Santa story that is appreciated and warmly rustic, and the atmosphere created through the harsh winter environments and the soft warm lighting, which helps make the film cozy and light. Some of the animals and magical creatures are noticeably fake looking, but are well designed or look very appealing, so even if they don’t look real, you aren’t distracted by them.

A Boy Call Christmas won’t be on anybody’s radar (if anything, it’d be impressive if anyone even knows what it is as even the trailers weren’t anything that remarkable), but if by chance, someone were to stumble onto it while scrolling through Netflix and decided to give it a watch for the season, you won’t be blown away, but you won’t dread your time either. Since there are so many Christmas specials and films, it’s easy for one to get lost in the scuffle, but if there’s anything that this film proves, it’s that if they at least keep the spirit in check, even a mediocre one will still be digestible. The story is passable, the characters are fine, the film looks nice and even if the script isn’t very good, the acting is a little half-and-half, the effects can feel a little odd, and it doesn’t really need to exist, it doesn’t have to feel ashamed that it does.