A Boy Called Christmas - A Quite Heartwarming Chrismas Movie with Pretty Interesting Story

Few days ago, this new Christmas themed movie was released on Neflix which quite intrigued me. My wife who is a fan of such movies were definitely interested. But due to some reasons and company function, we only managed to see this one last night. Well now I'll head right to it.

Brief Story Line

The movie focused on a young boy named Nikolas (Henry Lawfull) who lived alone with his father Joel (Michiel Huisman - Kate, 2: 22 etc) in the snowy area of Finland. When the King (Jim Broadbent - Paddington 2 etc) ordered his people to search for something magical that would raise the hope of the kingdom, Joel decided to do so in order to get the reward. 

Nikolas who was left with his aunt Carlotta (Kristen Wiig - Wonder Woman 1984, Despicable Me 3 etc) was worried about his father as he went to the farthest land in the north and decided to look for him. Only accompanied by his mouse Miika, Nikolas embarked on an unexpectedly amazing adventure that would change his life forever.

So how would the story conclude? Find them all in this Christmas movie.

End of Brief Story Line

When I started to watch this movie, I was a bit confused why the setting was different from what was hinted in the trailer that I saw briefly. But after few minutes, I could immediately understand it. Anyway, this movie was indeed a fantasy movie with the magical elements and various adventures that a young boy experienced. My wife and I did enjoy watching it as we thought it was a creative way of telling the story of a famous figure.

From the closing credit, I noticed that the film was based on the book of the same title written by Matt Haig. Having read a bit about its review, it looked to be highly regarded, so it's not a surprise to see the book adapted into a movie. Btw, it is an English production which would explain the strong British accent on the cast (who I think mostly, if not all are British).

The lead cast Henry Lawfull is practically a newcomer, but I thought he was able to portray this boy who had a hard life well enough. My wife said his face looks a bit like cartoon character, so it's quite fitting in a fantasy movie like this. In addition to the names I mentioned above, there were also the support cast of well known stars like Maggie Smith (Sherlock Gnomes, Harry Potter movies etc) and Sally Hawkins (The Shape of Waters, Happy Go Lucky etc) with few other in supporting roles. For me and my wife it was Maggie Smith who was able to bring light humour every now and then to brighten up the mood of the movie. Oh we also liked Stephen Merchant (Locked Down etc) who provided voice role of one character with his many witty remarks that made us laugh. 

For an adventure movie, this one was interesting enough and felt fun & safe for children. It is after all based on children's book and Netflix also categorized it for 7+. Now as a Christmas movie, this one felt a bit sad and dark especially in the early stages, but as the story progressed, it felt brighter and culminated in a quite wonderful conclusion. My wife certainly enjoyed it as she laughed in certain moments and felt emotional in the others. Oh, the movie was not complicated and simple enough to understand, with one unexpected but very interesting moment towards the end (so better watch out for it).

Overall this to me is a nice enough fantasy movie with various elements that should satisfy fans of such genre. It managed to provide a unique story of this popular figure who is considered a must have during Christmas. The film also has few heartwarming scenes. Although there was a bit of over simplicity of the ending, it is still understandable considering it is based on children's book afterall. So if you are into a Christmas movie with strong fantasy element, then you should be able to enjoy it, even if it might not become an instant classic.

Mike's movie moments rating: 3.5 out of 5 stars