A Boy Called Christmas – Film Review

An ordinary young boy called Nikolas (Henry Lawfull) 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 that proves nothing is impossible.

It’s officially December first – finally! Even though where I live there is currently no snow on the ground yet, I figured what better day to kick off a Christmas movie marathon I’ll inevitably be having than to watch Gil Kenan‘s new Netflix film A Boy Called Christmas? And while it isn’t one of the best Christmas movies you can find, it’s still an adorable, uplifting, and constantly entertaining film that’s sure to be fun for the whole family.

Sometimes I hate when people say a certain movie is “fun for the whole family” because it just seems like it’s not that true. But honestly, A Boy Called Christmas will probably entertain audiences of all ages whether you’re a small child, a teenager, adult, an elder, etc. It also really helps if you’re a fan of Christmas films as I am. This film serves as an adaptation of Matt Haig‘s 2015 novel of the same name and while I’ve never actually read that novel, I’ve heard many good things about it and it seems as though most fans of that book enjoyed this film as well.

The true heart and soul in this film is the lead performance by Henry Lawfull as Nikolas. The fact that this is only his second film is genuinely astounding because, watching him, you’d think he’s been working for a long time in the industry. He has an all-encompassing sense of warmth and charisma radiating off of him in virtually every scene, making for a lead that we can all root for. It also helps that he’s given some exceptional character development along the way too.

Some of the other actors can be a bit iffy at times, however. For example, there was just something so indescribably odd about watching Sally Hawkins as some wicked villain. It just didn’t work for me at all. And Zoe Colletti – who I usually love – did a decent job in the role of The Truth Pixie but it also felt as though she was holding something back from her performance.

Acting aside, the film looks absolutely gorgeous thanks to the cinematography by Zac Nicholson. Right from the opening scene alone, you can tell that Nicholson knew exactly how to make a comfy cozy Christmas aesthetic, and accompanied with Kenan’s direction, it surprisingly ends up being one of the most visually impressive films of the year so far. Ain’t that a surprise?

There’s a lot of fun to be had with A Boy Called Christmas at the end of the day. It doesn’t have the most amazing story in the world and it can be a bit predictable but at the end of the day, the movie most certainly executes its goal to be a cute Christmas film for the whole family with a great lead performance and truly stunning visuals.