This is Christmas
Published December 23, 2022
Film info
- Title This is Christmas
- Director Chris Foggin
- Year 2022
- Run time 1hr 46m
- Genres Romance, Comedy, Drama
- Tagline Find friendship in unexpected places
An uplifting and heartwarming story about finding the magic of Christmas, no matter where you might be, This Is Christmas follows Adam and Emma as they make their daily commute from the picture-perfect village of Langton to London for work. Every day they share their journey with the same characters, but they all keep themselves to themselves. But then one day, in the build-up to Christmas, Adam breaks the unwritten rule of travel and starts talking to the strangers on the train, inviting the whole carriage to hold their own Christmas party.
Live blog
| Time | Comment |
|---|---|
| 1:56 | Now they say ’tickets and railcards please,’ not just tickets. |
| 6:22 | “Never engage on the commute, that’s page number one.” |
| 8:53 | Ooh, he’s pulling some Mad Men nonsense on them. |
| 13:09 | Little bit of train politics there. |
| 15:18 | He didn’t say when or where or enough details at all. |
| 20:11 | “Basically chick-lit but too much of a snob for Marian Keyes.” |
| 28:04 | It’s not hard to imagine an old man as a young man when they’ve grown up on screen but sure. |
| 32:36 | “I’m a meal deal kinda guy so I know what I’m talking about.” |
| 39:41 | Her holiday plans sound great. Eating, watching Die Hard, drinking whiskey. Sold! |
| 42:48 | Train buddies. |
| 48:47 | Laughing and chatting with the conductor - he’s supposed to be the enemy. |
| 52:07 | What’s the actual proposal though? |
| 58:06 | “You thinkin’ mash?” |
| 1:02:38 | Fungible is such a terrible word. |
| 1:16:48 | Projector seems a bit of a waste just for a loop. Noisy too! |
| 1:21:59 | “A recipe ain’t much, and a little help ain’t everything. But it’s something. |
| 1:33:01 | That is a really good party for a bunch of strangers. |
Thoughts
This is a lovely gentle little movie about people finding the meaning of Christmas in connecting with other people. At first, you’re really uptight with all the commuters and thinking there’s no way this party can work, but gradually as the film unwinds, you start to relax into it too. I mean, don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to talk to commuters all of a sudden, but it’s a great message not to judge people as you never know what’s going on in their lives.
The film has a real slow burn, unpeeling layers of these different characters lives as the time ticks on to this potential Christmas party, until you love them all. And there’s a central main love story that comes to a perfect happy ending. Wonderful.
Rating: 5 / 5
