Hello Hive! It's the Christmas season and that means there are lots of movies recently released in celebration but this particular one stands out for me. It's a movie that everyone can watch, including children. It's a fantasy, fairytale kind of movie.
A Boy Called Christmas, a British fantasy movie released in November 2021, is based on a book of the same name by Matt Haig. The screenplay was written by Ol Parker and directed by Gil Kenan.
Plot
The movie begins on a sad note showing three children who beg their father to stay home but he had to work. So he assures them that their Aunt Ruth will soon be home to keep them company.
The children seem unhappy with the decision until Aunt Ruth arrives and tells them a bedtime story about a boy who brought some 'hope' to his village.
That boy is Nickolas who lives with his father. They are poor and alone because his mother had died. The king calls a meeting and requests the people of the village to find anything that will bring them some hope.
Nickolas' father decides to travel with some men on a quest to find 'hope'. It's a sad scene where father and son both hug each other repeatedly. Nickolas is left behind in the care of his Aunt Carlotta who turns out to be mean.
Like some fantasy movies, Nickolas becomes friends with a mouse which later gains speech ability like a human, a reindeer and a truth pixie on his journey to find his father who did not return home after the time he promised to had passed. You would have to watch this movie to know whether or not Nickolas succeeded on his quest to find his father and save Christmas.
Review
I like this movie because it's a bit different from the cliché Christmas movies that are mostly focused on romance —a woman falls in love with a man (or a prince) and it ends with them married. Don't get me wrong, I like romantic Christmas movies if only for the sentimental feeling (because I must feed that part of my mind 😄) but I longed for something different this season and this movie gave it to me!
I enjoy fantasy movies involving the magical world and creatures and this movie fanned the flame. From the first scene to the last, I was intrigued, like so this was how Saint Nicholas became associated with Christmas! Haha.
It's a good movie. The actors did splendidly, especially Maggie Smith as the Truth Pixie/Aunt Ruth and Michiel Huisman as Nickolas' father.
Also, I did not expect to see Kristen Wiig play the role of an antagonist but she was funny, as always and did great.
I was not too impressed with Henry Lawfull's role as Nickolas/Christmas.
For an actor with the main role, I find his acting to be a tad dull. His face was mostly expressionless, like he was not too into his role. I understand he's a young, rising star but maybe the director could have worked more on him.
The CGI (computer-generated imagery) was neat, stunning and beautifully revealed the 'fantasy world' of the movie.
I give this movie a 4 stars but it could have been 4.5 stars if only the main actor, Henry Lawful, had put some more effort into his part. I'll say this movie is a masterpiece and can be placed on the same shelf as other Christmas classics.
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Poster source: Amazon Trailer: YouTube Other images are screenshots from the movie
