When it comes to the values of Christmas, the film that covers it the most abundantly is Richard Curtis’s Love Actually. A film that has arguably become a little outdated, but at the centre of it is the themes of love, pain, family and togetherness. A quintessentially British take on the lonely Christmas parties and awkwardness of the shopping. Whilst there are grander, global or American takes, Love Actually is the one that possibly understands the British aesthetic of Christmas most.
However, with Netflix’s latest film That Christmas, which is penned by Curtis and set in the fictional Suffolk seaside town of Wellington-on-sea, Curtis has made what he is describing as “Love Actually for kids”. Adapted from a triplet of children’s book, with Curtis using his experience of living in Suffolk, with Wellington being a blend of Walberswick, Southwold and Halesworth, he replicates the charm of Love Actually with Christmas being an occasion of bringing people closer together.
The film opens with Brian Cox’s interpretation of Santa, one with a slightly thicker Scottish accent than Cox’s typical tone. Likewise, he is far away from his most iconic role of Logan Roy, he is warm-hearted as he defiantly battles a blizzard of bother, and down to his last reindeer, Dasher. Cox’s Santa, although vacant for much of the film acts as a narrator, telling the story of ‘that Christmas’, as if some bad dream. Indeed, Santa isn’t the all-forgiving man he is in other portrayals, willing to leave naughty children presentless.
However, the film doesn’t follow Santa, but rather a group of school children on their own Christmas journeys. Danny is on his own after his parent's divorce and his mum working over Christmas. Then there are twins, Sam and Charlie, one naughty, one nice. Whilst, another group of families leave their children behind to go to a wedding on Christmas Eve, in a film where it is the people who fix the town.
That Christmas is perhaps what you would expect from another Richard Curtis Christmas film, full of good-natured sentimentality, a charming tale with cutesy animation. Whilst, it is full of schmaltz and almost a soppy, over-endearing nature to it, it can kind of get away with it as a Christmas film. It has great British charm, similar to Love Actually, the nativity has made-up roles, this time there are chickpeas and broccoli in an attempt by the children to turn people towards vegetarianism. However, it is full of a quaint, small-town British film about children falling in love, or seeing a Miss Truchball-esque Head Teacher soften up.
The film is dealing with heavy topics and to a varying degree. The film tackles climate change and veganism head-on. Particularly through the children in their good-natured and naïve way to alter Christmas traditions. Such as releasing the Turkeys before they are slaughtered or pranking a woman who doesn’t look after her dog. Unsurprisingly, this is fairly surface level, hardly framing these children as the new generation of Just Stop Oil protestors, nor having a lasting impact. These ideas feel heavy-handed, particularly with a script that can be often condescending, speaking down towards its audience.
However, at its heart, it’s a simple story of Christmas, with Curtis’s films, even the non-Christmassy ones like About Time and Four Weddings and a Funeral having a certain air of heartwarming togetherness, full of love and pain. The film is full of fun and joy, with nods to Curtis’s other Christmas flick providing a particular chuckle, but the film is not just schmaltz and charm for their own sake. The film gives agency to its characters. Santa is not some deus ex machina, but rather it is the children who have to fix Christmas in the unrealistically snowy Suffolk seaside setting. Additionally, the film has a brilliantly British feel, celebrating the best of British values, with a brilliant British cast including Fiona Shaw, Bill Nighy and Jodie Whittaker, with music from the likes of Ed Sheeran and Coldplay, which never takes away from the film’s biggest strength, its small town personality.
That Christmas is a charming Christmas film and one of the best for years. Full of the charm of Richard Curtis and British sentimentality. Not without its flaws, with some hokey writing and condescending narration, but it will nevertheless be remembered for the kinder and more heartwarming moments that embody the values of Christmas.
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