Film Review: A Boy Called Christmas

Director: Gil Kenan
Starring: Henry Lawfull
Running time: 103 minutes

A Boy Called Christmas is an enjoyable film that helps to inspire children about the meaning of Christmas, and tells a pleasing origin story for Father Christmas. The film is an easy and joyous watch for this time of year, with a story that doesn’t drag. Indeed, it soars through its runtime quicker than Santa flying on sleigh. 

There are some excellent, snow-filled visual shots within this film. Largely set in Lapland, Finland, the film spares no expense at bringing the snow-filled wilderness to life, full of dangerous creatures. The visuals also bring Elfhelm – the Elf village in Matt Haig’s book – to life in a fun way. 

Zoe Margaret Colletti, the actor who plays the Truth pixie, brings a sense of energetic fun to the film, but this can sometimes come across as being filled with too much energy. This can be slightly annoying at times, though on the whole her sense of glee succeeds in spreading to the audience. Henry Lawfull also turns in a debut performance that is a delight to watch.

Stephen Merchant gives a hilarious performance across the film’s run time, with a sense of cynicism and honest humour that will make the audience laugh whenever he talks and overall makes the film that much better to watch. His adorable addition is surely the best part of the film, and is certainly the most memorable. Another memorable performance is given by Kristen Wiig’s Aunt Carlotta, showing off just how evil aunts can be, without going over the top.

The film is structured as a bedtime story, told by Maggie Smith’s Aunt Ruth. This structure can sometimes hurt the film, as it switches between the narrative and going back to the bedside table a few times, interrupting the story. That being said, it often also works in the film’s favour, as the lessons of the story are being learnt outside of it. 

Overall, this is a charming Christmas film with great visuals and good performances from the cast. The film also meets all the traditional themes of Christmas, which is nothing new at this time of year, but it adds a slight bit of melancholy to the affair. This offers a small slice of something new to the formula, but it doesn’t take it to new heights. A Boy Called Christmas serves as a likeable Christmas flick, and there isn’t much to go wrong with.

Did you know? Director Gil Kenan made his breakthrough into the film industry when Robert Zemeckis watched a copy of his 10-minute stop-motion/live-action short film The Lark, and subsequently hired him to direct the 2006 animated horror Monster House for ImageMovers. He has directed four feature films in total and penned the screenplay for Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which was also released this year.

A Boy Called Christmas is screening at The Bonington on Thursday 23 December