A Christmas Carol

2020

1 hr. 34 min.

Holiday

Drama

Animation

List

58%

12 Reviews

Tomatometer

57%

Fewer than 50 Ratings

Audience Score

On Christmas Eve, a Victorian family settles in to watch the story of "A Christmas Carol" inside a children's paper theater. Illustrated characters come to life and the cardboard scenery blends with real sets.

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CKB

I am astounded at the lack of enthusiasm on this site for this brilliant work. Writer David Morris and Director Jacqui Morris have conjured a new way of presenting great fiction on screen in a manner that reflects our experience when reading. So much of a novel's effect comes from its narration and description, yet films typically use only snippets of the original dialogue and leave everything else to the actors and set designers, as if the author's words weren't worth repeating. The Morrises, however, use voice actors to provide much of Dickens' narration (by an amazing 86-yr-old Siân Phillips) and dialogue, but leave the visuals to an entirely different set of creative people: instead of seeing the usual actors in period costume moving around Hammer Film-style 'realistic' sets, we are treated to dancers who express the emotions of each scene while moving within a surreal stage-world based on 19th-century etchings of London life. The result is deeply moving, and expresses Dickens' social message better than any of the many other versions of this story. This film is not for kids, but for thinking adults who are dismayed by the profits-over-people sensibility of our times, just as Dickens was by the greed and heartlessness of the Industrial Revolution.

Rated 5 out of 5 stars

03/08/24

Full Review

bill t

I seem to be in the minority when I say I enjoyed this version of Christmas Carol. It seems whenever you have a piece of classic literature, and then add something new to it, the knives come out. This version of Carol is mostly a dance piece! I really enjoyed the mixture of dance along with the classic writings of Dickens. Both blended very well and kept me entertained throughout it's running time.

Rated 4 out of 5 stars

03/30/23

Full Review

ONE SIXTH CAVE

You know when people parody interpreted dance by waving their hands around in a floaty way and dancing back to back while twirling alot? Yeah that's this whole film, except it's not a parody. Also the voice over doesn't stitch together well with the twirly floaty dancy bits. Some nice lighting and the theatre style sets could have made for a nice looking play. But the dance/audio play style just didn't come together naturally. Oh and a top tip for any would be directors, if you are going to open with child actors you may want to ensure they are able to carry the dialogue as it really starts things off badly if the opening lines come off flat and amateur. That's not a dig at the kids, the directors should have seen it was a bad start and either corrected it or left it out.

Rated 1 out of 5 stars

11/07/22

Full Review

mike v

A Christmas Carol is a 2020 British Christmas drama dance film directed by Jacqui Morris and David Morris and based on Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol 🎄 Meh, it passed the time. Just. 😐 👍🏼👎🏼

Rated 2.5 out of 5 stars

03/31/23

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Jacqui Morris

Director

Carey Mulligan

Belle

Martin Freeman

Bob Cratchit

Andy Serkis

Marley's Ghost

Daniel Kaluuya

The Ghost of Christmas Present

Leslie Caron

The Ghost of Christmas Past

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Robbie Collin

Daily Telegraph (UK)

Immersive rather than absorbing, it's a film that makes you pine for the theatre, where this kind of offbeat treatment tends to land with fewer bumps.

Rated: 3/5

Dec 4, 2020

Full Review

Stephen Dalton

Hollywood Reporter

Technically impressive but dramatically flat.

Dec 4, 2020

Full Review

Ellen E Jones

Guardian

The Morrises have combined contemporary choreography with Dickens' timeless tale to create an enthralling and moving experience.

Rated: 4/5

Dec 4, 2020

Full Review

Zoë Rose Bryant

Loud and Clear Reviews

A Christmas Carol is one of the most innovative interpretations of this oft-told odyssey yet, combining cinema and stage work with artistic audaciousness.

Rated: 3.5/5

Sep 1, 2022

Full Review

Zachary David Rogers

Film Inquiry

The voice performances are spectacular, and so are the dancers, but the editing of the two pieces of art together ultimately fails to work.

Mar 7, 2021

Full Review

Dulcie Pearce

The Sun (UK)

LET'S face it, there is no better adaptation of Charles Dickens' famous story than The Muppet Christmas Carol.

Rated: 2/5

Dec 4, 2020

Full Review

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Synopsis

On Christmas Eve, a Victorian family settles in to watch the story of "A Christmas Carol" inside a children's paper theater. Illustrated characters come to life and the cardboard scenery blends with real sets.

Director: Jacqui Morris
Executive Producer: Clare Lee Davis, Laurence Gornall, Anne Sheehan, Darko Skulsky
Screenwriter: David Morris
Production Co: Frith Street Films
Genre: Holiday, Drama, Animation
Original Language: English
Release Date (Streaming): Dec 1, 2021

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