This is of course the most Christmasy of Joel Fry’s Christmas-related projects, but it also has the least Joel Fry in it, which I think is definitely against the spirit of the holiday. My least favorite of this cluster of Christmas-themed films/shows, and not just because his role is so small.
Three kids are dreading the prospect of being babysat by their Aunt Ruth on Christmas Eve—they’ve recently lost their mom, their dad has been called into the office, and the “rude” old woman is the only person available on short notice. But they’re in for a surprise when Ruth tells them the story of Nikolas, a young boy who goes on a perilous adventure to discover the mysterious land known as Elfhelm. His own late mother told him stories of the elves and their magic, and Nikolas hopes that through them, he can rekindle the spark of hope in the world.
We’ll start with the story within the story. This origin tale for ol’ St. Nick has something of an “everything but the kitchen sink” feel to it. There are the obvious allusions, like the iconic red hat and a flying reindeer, and there’s also a talking mouse and a chaotic “Truth Pixie” who invents Christmas crackers (although hers actually explode.) Elfhelm is a whimsical place full of joy and good cheer, except it’s recently been turned into a magically-enforced police state due to a bad run-in with humans. There’s a terrible aunt—not Aunt Ruth, a different aunt—a doll made out of a turnip, and lines like, “An impossibility is only a possibility that you don’t understand yet.”
There’s a lot here about hope, magic, and kindness, which is valid, obviously, but there are some odd throughlines as a result of that. Nikolas and his dad are separated when his dad goes off in search of something that will turn their meager fortunes around, and Nikolas frames that as his dad being tastelessly obsessed with money. “Being good is better than being rich, Papa,” he says (and to be fair, his dad does do something pretty underhanded in his quest.) But the father and son are barely eking out a living. Nikolas’s dad isn’t shallow and materialistic, he wants his son to have enough food to not live in deprivation! And it’s kind of weird that the movie is like, “Oh my god, how could you?”
I’m not familiar with Henry Lawfull, who plays Nikolas. He makes for a decent child lead, very earnest. Zoe Colletti, also new to new, is pretty fun as the Truth Pixie. She’s probably my favorite part of the movie and brings an unexpected sharpness to the proceedings. There are plenty of familiar faces here, and some of the performances are admittedly very good. Stephen Merchant is entertaining as the voice of Nikolas’s mouse friend Miika, and the film also features Jim Broadbent, Kristen Wiig, and Toby Jones. Plus, we’ve got a couple actors who’ve been in other projects with Joel Fry: Michiel Huisman (Daario from Game of Thrones) plays Nikolas’s dad, and Sally Hawkins (Mrs. Brown from Paddington) is quite good as Mother Vodol, the elf who’s subjugating all the others.
Over in the present-day part of the story we have Dame Maggie Smith as Aunt Ruth. At the start of her tale, she explains to the kids that “the universe is made of stories, not atoms.” One thing I like here is that the kids repeatedly interrupt her to ask how various things will turn out in the story. Does Nikolas ever see his dad again? Does Nikolas get caught by Mother Vodol? And so forth. These are three children who are about to have their first Christmas without their mom, and they very much want to know what they’re getting in for with Ruth.
Joel Fry plays the kids’ dad Matt, and since the film’s framing device involves a story told by a babysitter, that means the narrative requires him to be mostly offscreen. He’s in the movie for maybe five minutes total, a bit at the beginning and a bit at the end.
(Side note: Look, I like Maggie Smith, and she obviously does a good job in the role, but I wish Aunt Ruth had been played by a Black actress. It feels shady that three Black kids rediscover the hope of Christmas with the help of their white aunt while their Black dad isn’t around.)
But so help me, I still like what Fry does with his limited screentime. Matt is a frazzled widower who’s trying to hold everything together. The kids don’t want Aunt Ruth coming to watch them (“She’s awful,” “She’s rude,” “She’s very, very old,”) and Matt does his best to reason with them in between drying the dishes and gathering up his work stuff. He apologizes for having to leave on Christmas Eve and promises to be back as soon as he can. When Ruth arrives, she tuts at their lack of a tree or decorations. She asks how the kids are, and she doesn’t buy Matt’s strained optimistic insistence, “They’re doing great.” It all (briefly) paints the picture of a dad who doesn’t know how to make any of this better but is attempting to muddle through.
Accent Watch
Southern British English.
Recommend?
General – Not necessarily. It has some parts that I honestly like, but it doesn’t all hold together for me. Kids might like it.
Joel Fry – Not a must. Although I do enjoy his performance here, he’s hardly in it.
Warnings
Thematic elements, scary moments for kids, and mild violence.
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