Richard Curtis returns to his festive roots in an endearingly saccharine animated movie. Here’s our That Christmas review.
The comparisons between Curtis’ latest festive flick and his first are too easy to draw – so I’m going to draw them. With an anthology-ish structure including multiple references to Love Actually, it’s not difficult to see where the inspiration to turn the national treasure’s three Christmas picture-books into a single film came from.
And why not? Curtis’ 2003 directorial outing might have since become the Christmas classic to rule all Christmas classics, but a 15-rating and a healthy smattering of rude bits hardly make it ideal family viewing. Why not launch a spiritual sequel onto Netflix, quickly becoming the home of the modern gooey Christmas movie?
Based on an amalgamation of Curtis and illustrator Rebecca Cobb’s The Empty Stocking, Snow Day and That Christmas, the story follows three families in the sleepy town of Wellington-On-Sea as a once-in-a-generation storm threatens to derail their carefully laid plans. Go-getting teen Bernie (India Brown) is placed in charge of a half-dozen kids when their parents are stranded at a nearby wedding; the perpetually nervous Sam (Zazie Hayhurst) is worried her twin’s naughty behaviour will get her struck off Santa’s nice list; and new kid Danny (Jack Wisniewski) is left crestfallen when his mum is called into work on Christmas Day.
Such is the cultural impact of Love Actually that plenty of what’s here feels familiar. There’s the obligatory school nativity, complete with knowing jokes about climate change and veganism. There’s the story of young Danny and his stern headmistress, Fiona Shaw’s Ms Trapper, a pair of very different lonely souls coming together for the big day. There’s the twee Suffolk coast setting packed to the seawall with bumbling middle class eccentricities.
Being a Christmas film, of course, that familiarity is by no means a bad thing. For That Christmas, it makes up a large part of its charm. As the three stories intertwine and come to their broadly predictable conclusions, they give the unmistakable sensation of being wrapped in a Quality Street-littered blanket, helped by an all-star cast of British favourites and Curtis staples (Brian Cox, Jodie Whittaker, Bill Nighy). Though the final sequence seems to stretch the premise beyond its natural lifespan somewhat, moments beforehand tug on the heartstrings as only the Four Weddings And A Funeral writer knows how.
And there’s plenty of freshness mixed in amongst the old stuff, too. Some genuinely laugh-out-loud jokes have just enough of an edge to avoid the whole thing feeling a bit too cutesy, and Locksmith Animation (of Ron’s Gone Wrong fame) and director Simon Otto (How To Train Your Dragon) have lent the 3D animation a physicality that (and this is crucial) make the characters’ hugs look like they mean them.
The target audience might be a touch younger than we’ve come to expect from Curtis’ output, but when it comes to wide-eyed festive feeling, it’s hard to think of anyone who does it better. That Christmas is profoundly, proudly uncool; it’s not particularly dignified, or newsworthy; but it will make you believe, just for a second, that love is all around after all.
That Christmas premiered at the BFI London Film Festival 2024, and streams on Netflix from 4th December.