There are plenty of Christmas movie options out there today. Hallmark has promised those hard working city girls there’s a hunky small town man ready to sweep you off your feet 100+ times over. HBO Max has 8 bits of something. Hulu might haav the Happiest Season. Disney Plus has all the Home Alones, and Netflix has leaned into multiplying Vanessa Hudgens’s at Christmastime for your pleasure. But in the midst of all of these simple easy popcorn flicks, Netflix also found a special type of film that I hope they continue to make at least one of every year: the Christmas Fable. Klaus was Netflix’s 2019 entry into the genre, and 2021 brings us A Boy Called Christmas, taking Christmas back to basics in fun, family friendly ways.
On Christmas Eve, three humbuggy kids are stuck being babysit by their old Aunt Ruth (Maggie Smith); to put them to bed, Ruth tells them the only Christmas tale she knows. We’re then taken to Northern Finland. A boy, not called Christmas, but called Nicholas (Henry Lawfull) lives simply with his dad Joel (Michiel Huisman), a woodsman. When the king (Jim Broadbent) offers a big reward to help the country become more hopeful, Joel goes in search of a famous mystical land called Elfhelm, leaving Nicholas with his vain, narcissistic Aunt Carlotta (Kristen Wiig). Miserable under Carlotta’s cruel parenting, Nicholas decides to go searching for his father and Elfhelm with only the companionship of his pet mouse Miika.
In the glut of Christmas movie options, these Netflix Christmas Fables stand out because they simplify the story, eliminating most of the corporate and commercial influences that have attached to the modern version of the holiday. The less populated setting usually means that we’re going on some sort of adventure as well. Adventures mean fun new worlds and creatures we haven’t seen before (Finland, you beautiful cold menace you!), origin stories for the holiday (in this movie, we learn some Reindeer names, how Santa became magical, for example). But most importantly, adventures mean heroes. A Boy Called Christmas sends Nicholas on the hero’s journey, where the innocent untested boy will rise to the occasion and help defeat any forces of evil/meanness that get in his way, usually in fun, exciting, selfless wonderful ways that warm the hearts of every person, animal, creature, etc he meets.
But to trust the adorable but unproven Henry Lawfull with carrying the movie alone would be a tough ask. So smartly the filmmakers bring in a series of (mostly British) well respected thespians to fill in the supporting roles and help the kid pull it off. Michiel Huisman doesn’t get a lot to do as Joel’s dad, but he makes the most of his time, selling the bond between father and son so it means something. Toby Jones and Sally Hawkins are really great here too, both playing against type. Jones is warm and brave, almost like the quasi-Gandalf for Nicholas, while Hawkins is a tortured soul, booming menacingly and surprisingly from her petite frame. And just for the hell of it Maggie Smith and Jim Broadbent are there to coax the movie along and be adorably old and reverent in only a way regal British acteurs could be.
In a sea of Christmas fluff, A Boy Called Christmas is actually about something worthwhile. Thus, it makes a perfect family film this holiday season. But parents, be warned, your kids might like it so much they demand to see Elfhelm meaning a trip to Finland’s arctic circle might be in your future. Dress warm!