Christmas … Again?! (2021) Movie Review

Rating U
Length 1h33
Release 3.12.2021
Director Andy Finkman
About After a disastrous celebration, 12-year-old Rowena makes a wish and unexpectedly finds herself reliving Christmas Day over and over again. After a disastrous celebration, 12-year-old Rowena makes a wish and unexpectedly finds herself reliving Christmas Day over and over again.
Moon: no moon sighting
Where to Watch: Disney Plus
Trailer:

The Good

• Lucifer’s Scarlett Estevez gives everyone watching the perfect blend of Kevin (Home Alone) Ferris (Buller) and Mouth (Goonies). She holds her own and does what she can with the material she’s given.
  It really makes me quite sad that her character in Lucifer didn’t give her a chance to demonstrate any of this.
• There’s fart gags and ‘living the kiddie dream’ that will keep young ones happy.
• With a 90(ish) minute runtime, it does make for an ideal mid-week choice.

The Bad

• The fart gags. Seriously, I’m bored of them now. I don’t need the smell described to me while the character gags. Nope, no thanks.
• The bizarre ‘everyone ends up at Ro’s house’ bollocks that was just weird. Everyone was rude, even the mother when it came to the last guest. Just really mishandled.

The Ugly

• There are already so many Groundhog Day does Christmas out there that if you do this gimmick, you have to do it right.
  This film, does not. It breaks the reset rules way too many times. Sometimes Ro is able to wake up before the set up of the day and put things into place, other times characters who would trigger the start of the day don’t appear, allowing Ro to do something else. This includes having the kitchen to herself, or members of the family not yet arriving at the house even though they’d seemingly been there for hours in the set up of the repeat day.
  The kid is also allowed to seemingly fuck off for the day, do what she wants, with no consequences. What bullshit is this?! Who in their right mind would let their 12 year old wonder off for any day without searching for her, let alone on Christmas Day. Mind boggles.

Final Thoughts

A film I wanted to love, but ultimately I found the plotting choices lazy and just made it hard to enjoy. For a film that does it right, check out Pete’s Christmas (2013) instead.