Summary
Considering it’s the third in a line of conveyor belt-style Christmas movies by the same filmmakers, I’m not surprised at how little thought they put into it.
We review the Netflix film I Believe in Santa, which does not contain spoilers.
I Believe in Santa is the newest holiday movie to drop on Netflix this season. Along with A Hollywood Christmas and A Christmas Mystery, this is the third 2022 holiday movie from writer-director duo John Ducey and Alex Ranarivelo to hit a streaming platform, the first two having landed on HBO Max earlier this year. The duo’s ability to make and release three subpar Christmas movies in one year is quite impressive.
The film’s premise is simplistic. Lisa (Christina Moore) is a single mom to Ella (Violet McGraw) who meets lawyer Tom (Ducey) at a 4th of July celebration. The two start dating, and everything is great for the first few months. Each protagonist has one friend and one friend only, Rachel (Lateefah Holder) and Assan (Sachin Bhatt). When Lisa learns how obsessed Tom is with Christmas, she becomes a bit apprehensive about continuing the relationship. But she soon relents and tries to understand her boyfriend’s love of the holiday. Things get even more complicated when Tom reveals he genuinely believes Santa Claus to be real. Can Tom and Lisa’s romance survive despite their different belief system?
The story is nonsensical, and potential plot points are introduced and dropped without explanation. For example, the film starts with Lisa publishing an article she wrote praising Independence Day. In it, she describes the 4th of July holiday as “better than Christmas.” We then cut to Tom reading the article and wholeheartedly disagreeing. That’s never brought up again. Instead, the leads have their meet-cute at a 4th of July family fair when Tom “rescues” Lisa’s daughter after she got separated from her dance group.
Despite Tom’s insistence that Christmas is the most magical time of the year, there’s no magic in I Believe in Santa. Firstly, the acting is atrociously robotic, almost as if the cast is sarcastically repeating the lines someone is feeding them through earpieces. There’s zero chemistry between the leads and frankly, Tom comes across as more creepy than an endearing Christmas-loving man. A 40-something single guy who lives with a roommate is so obsessed with the holiday that he goes overboard yearly. Why? Where is his family? Does he have any other friends? Why does he believe in Santa with such conviction? It makes no sense and the movie doesn’t even try to explain it.
Lisa’s no better either – the woman screams in Ubers (yes, screams within inches of the innocent driver’s ears for no good reason), and her disgust at the holiday is as exaggerated as Tom’s excitement. And the two best friends, Assan and Rachel, exist solely to provide support to our leads. Actually, they fit the prime definition of token people of color. And as a bonus, Assan is also the token gay Muslim character. And, of course, Tom happens to be the only person on the planet who accepts Assan for who he truly is.
I Believe in Santa is riddled with a nonsensical story, bad acting, and it looks like the cheap and rushed production it is. Considering it’s the third in a line of conveyor belt-style Christmas movies by the same filmmakers, I’m not surprised at how little thought they put into it.
What did you think of the Netflix film I Believe in Santa? Comment below.
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