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A Boy Called Christmas

Play trailer 2:32 Poster for A Boy Called Christmas 2021 1h 46m Kids & Family Holiday Adventure Drama Fantasy Play Trailer Watchlist
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83% Tomatometer 30 Reviews 61% Popcornmeter 250+ Ratings
An ordinary young boy called Nikolas sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north in search of his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves, Elfhelm. Taking with him a headstrong reindeer called Blitzen and a loyal pet mouse, Nikolas soon meets his destiny in this magical, comic and endearing story that proves nothing is impossible. Adapted from the bestselling book by Matt Haig.
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A Boy Called Christmas

A Boy Called Christmas

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Critics Consensus

A Boy Called Christmas offers few surprises, but makes up for its lack of originality with a heaping helping of winsome holiday spirit.

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Critics Reviews

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Stephen Romei The Australian This is a big-hearted movie about kindness, which, as Nikolas reminds his dad, costs nothing but is worth so much. Rated: 3.5/5 Dec 11, 2021 Full Review Christy Lemire FilmWeek (KPCC - NPR Los Angeles) It's light, playful, and knowingly anachronistic without being obnoxious. Dec 1, 2021 Full Review Clarisse Loughrey Independent (UK) Kenan has done a better job here of mining the comforts of childhood nostalgia than he did on the recent Ghostbusters: Afterlife, which he co-wrote. Rated: 4/5 Nov 28, 2021 Full Review Aaron Phillips But Why Tho? A Geek Community A Boy Called Christmas was a surprising hit for me, and I urge you and your families to put this film at the top of your must-watch list. Rated: 8.5/10 Jan 16, 2023 Full Review Tom Beasley Flickering Myth It's a film that leaves you yearning to delve into the riches of its unknown worlds, but lacks the propulsion to actually get the audience there. Rated: 2/5 Dec 16, 2021 Full Review Edward Porter Sunday Times (UK) The concept strikes me as presumptuous and laboured, but the book is popular and Gil Kenan's film adapts it smoothly in snow-dusted fairytale style. Rated: 3/5 Dec 8, 2021 Full Review Read all reviews

Audience Reviews

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Shiraz Q Fabulous Christmas movie. I was very emotionally invested, especially in the reindeer. I would have loved this movie as a kid, it was quite magical. The geniuses giving it half a star because it's not about Christ - um, Jesus was actually born in March, idiots. Our Christmas has its roots in pagan winter festivals that Christians (and I am one) co-opted long ago. And the people clutching their pearls over it being "dark" and showing "child abuse" would I guess have a heart attack if they read a real Grimm fairy tale. A Boy Called Christmas is a classic fairy tale, and they always have an element of darkness that is triumphed over in the end. I assume even the dumbest of these people is familiar with the story of Hansel and Gretel? Or Snow White? Come on. Anyway, great movie. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/02/24 Full Review Matt H A decent enough holiday movie. Rated 3 out of 5 stars 01/06/24 Full Review Maanyata R I think this movie has a lot to teach. I loved it! and recommend you to watch it, if you are a person who enjoys holiday movies and is not so keen on script and acting. Rated 5 out of 5 stars 12/30/23 Full Review Adrian M It was a sweet story within a story, in the same way as The Princess Bride was, only worse. No matter how many leaps of faith I took, the movie still found ways to not make sense. While it was nice to see more traditional elves for a change (yes, JRR Tolkien, I get it that you made new types of elves, but seriously, can we go back to traditional ones at least occasionally?), and it was based at least a little bit on established mythology, a lot of it just did not make sense, and even when you accepted that, the so-called leap of faith, there was still more that did not make sense, and it just kept on having things that did not make sense. If I take a mark off out of 10 for every time they had an escalating leap of faith that they failed to adhere to, this movie would be about a -40/10, or worse even. But there were still nice bits and, so long as I put my mind to sleep for a bit, it might be possible to enjoy it. But this is very hard. This is not a good movie. I gave it 3/10 Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 12/29/23 Full Review Joehan The plot of the movie was weak. Rated 1.5 out of 5 stars 12/29/23 Full Review Audience Member I truly love people that argue about keeping Christ in Christmas. Really? Upset because your made-up religion isn’t being followed in this made-up movie? There is ZERO proof that God or Jesus EXIST. The whole Bible is a sham it’s just a book about how to be a good person. So I’m thankful that a Christmas movie doesn’t have that loser Jesus in it. Rated 4 out of 5 stars 12/25/23 Full Review Read all reviews
A Boy Called Christmas

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Movie Info

Synopsis An ordinary young boy called Nikolas sets out on an extraordinary adventure into the snowy north in search of his father who is on a quest to discover the fabled village of the elves, Elfhelm. Taking with him a headstrong reindeer called Blitzen and a loyal pet mouse, Nikolas soon meets his destiny in this magical, comic and endearing story that proves nothing is impossible. Adapted from the bestselling book by Matt Haig.
Director
Gil Kenan
Producer
Graham Broadbent, Peter Czernin
Screenwriter
Ol Parker, Gil Kenan, Matt Haig, Ol Parker, Gil Kenan
Production Co
Netflix, Blueprint Pictures, Studio Canal
Genre
Kids & Family, Holiday, Adventure, Drama, Fantasy
Original Language
British English
Release Date (Streaming)
Nov 24, 2021
Runtime
1h 46m
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