Set in a charming coastal town during Christmas, Simon Otto and Locksmith Animation’s new film explores themes of empathy, compassion, and human connection, weaving stories of love, resilience, and community through the perspectives of children and adults; now streaming on Netflix.
Christmas, that traditional holiday celebration, is a time not just for gift-giving, but also for reflection and compassion. It encourages us to open our hearts to our fellow human beings, to understand their triumphs and trials, and to give them the gift of love. In short, Christmas is powered by empathy.
Cinema is powered by empathy, too. Like Christmas, it invites us to change our point of view and see the world through the eyes of others. Perhaps this explains the enduring appeal of that timeless festive treat – the classic Christmas movie.
Now streaming on Netflix, That Christmas, adapted from the children’s books by filmmaker Richard Curtis, and directed by Simon Otto, begins with a white-knuckle sleigh ride through the skies above Wellington-on-Sea, an archetypal English coastal town. As Santa (Brian Cox) swoops across the snow-covered rooftops, he becomes the film’s omniscient narrator, zipping back through time to relate the story of “one of the most challenging nights of my long career.”
Having deftly introduced the three children about whom the film revolves – shy Danny Williams (Jack Wisniewski), anxious Sam Beccles (Zazie Hayhurst), and rebellious Bernadette McNutt (India Brown) – Santa retreats temporarily into the background, allowing us to enter the lives of these children as they present their annual school Nativity play.
Written and directed by Bernadette (known as Bernie), the Nativity play invites us to see Christmas through the eyes of the children. Bernie’s script subverts all the Christmas traditions that the youngsters do not connect with, and champions concerns that are truly relevant to them. The Magi switch gender to become the Three Wise Women. The shepherds abandon meat to become vegetable farmers. When Mary lifts up the baby Jesus (represented by a highly decorated watermelon), she does so while standing on a low-budget replica of Pride Rock.
The audience of parents endures this annual ritual with weary ennui. During the drive home, the adults are highly critical of Bernie’s attempts to break the mold. The children, however, believe their transgressive approach is wonderful. Never mind what the grown-ups think – this is their reality. This may be the season of goodwill, but never has the gulf between generations been so deep. As Bernie herself remarks, “If only we could run the world. It would be so much fun.” Later, Bernie’s rebellious streak is given free rein. When the grown-ups are stranded in a blizzard, she takes charge of the children in a riotous celebration… kid-style. Christmas dinner is pizza and hot dogs. The Brussels sprouts become ammo for an outdoor battle in the snow. The tired old Christmas movie (wittily revealed as Richard Curtis’s Love Actually) is rejected in favor of karaoke.
The entertaining antics of the children deliver crowd-pleasing entertainment in a film that is both simple and sweet. However, beneath this simplicity lies a profound message – young people are agents of change. They have a powerful desire to imprint their will on reality. They desperately want to live in a world that reflects their desires. When we open our eyes to this truth, we see that Bernie is as much a force of nature as the blizzard that precipitates the drama.
Bernie’s story is just one of many threads that the filmmakers skillfully weave into a seamless tapestry. Danny is lonely because his dad is absent following his parents’ divorce, and because his mum (Jodie Whittaker), another of the film’s many strong female characters, works long shifts as a nurse. At the same time, Danny is trying to summon the courage to ask Sam out on a date. Meanwhile, nice Sam is locked in a difficult relationship with her naughty twin sister, Charlie (Sienna Sayer). The adults have their own trials, too. As the story unfolds, we learn that the strict schoolteacher Ms. Trapper (Fiona Shaw) has a tragic past which explains why she is, in her own words, a “terrifying trout.”
The growing relationship between Danny and Ms. Trapper unlocks another of the film’s hidden messages – that the real heart of Christmas is connecting with others. Through empathy, these characters see inside each other, and learn the truth that Santa articulates so eloquently: “Christmas is like an emotional magnifying glass. If you feel loved and happy, Christmas will make you feel even happier and more loved. But, if you feel alone and unloved, the magnifier gets to work and makes all those bad things bigger and worse.”
Santa has a hidden story, too. As an audience, we are encouraged to empathize with the bearded gift-giver as he is forced to punish a child who has not behaved well. According to the mythology of Christmas, this is simply part of Santa’s job description. Only now do we see how distressing this act must be for a man who simply wants to spread the love. “For all the talk of who’s naughty and who’s nice,” he sighs, “it’s actually incredibly rare for me to follow through with an empty stocking on actual Christmas night.”
By the end of the film, all the narrative threads have resolved themselves joyously. If each thread is a voice, the climax brings us a choir singing in perfect harmony – except, perhaps, the pessimistic Mrs. Mulji (Sindhu Vee), who remains grumpy to the end. Danny gains new appreciation of everything his mother does, both for him and for others. Sam realizes that Charlie’s naughtiness is entirely motivated by altruism. Bernie’s parents see their daughter for the strong young woman she truly is. For every character, it is empathy that makes the music sweet.
All this action – and all this emotion – plays out in Wellington-on-Sea, a small town that is quintessentially English, yet universal in its appeal. The film’s crisp design and gorgeous lighting conjures up a world that feels both modern and timeless. The music is rich and relevant, with a soaring score by John Powell and a variety of seasonal songs including Ed Sheeran’s original composition “Under the Tree.”
Director Simon Otto brings a beautiful cinematic sensibility to That Christmas. Santa’s narration frames the movie with a classical literary structure. Halfway through, when the narrative finally catches up with the “present day” of that opening white-knuckle sleigh ride, we experience a cinematic meta-moment when a cheeky freeze-frame captures Santa in mid-stumble. Throughout the film, the director continues to play with POV. We enjoy various shows-within-a-show, from the Nativity play to Bernie’s epic staging of the perfect kids’ Christmas. All these examples support the underlying message of empathy, as we experience the story through a succession of different lenses, each one designed to present us with an alternative – and often subversive – point of view.
During the film’s rousing post-Christmas finale, the residents of Wellington-on-Sea put on their bathing suits and dive into the sea – despite the cold winter weather. This collective baptism symbolizes more than just the coming together of the townspeople. It is a celebration of all they have learned during this deeply memorable Christmas. They are transformed, nobody more so than Ms. Trapper, who approached Christmas like a rolled-up umbrella, with all her emotions bottled up inside. Having reconnected with her own painful past, she is now able to reconnect with the people around her. At last, she can start to live again.
In Ms. Trapper’s rebirth, we discover the final message of the film – that Christmas is ultimately about life itself. From the fist-pump moment when Charlie liberates Mr. Yirrell’s (Paul Kaye) turkeys from their cages to the heartwarming revelation that kind Mrs. Williams has nursed the sick mother of Lighthouse Bill (Bill Nighy) through another New Year and Bernie’s powerful, primal life-force, the gift of life oozes from this film’s pores. Santa himself would agree. “The only gift they ever really needed was each other,” he says at the film’s conclusion. “A real community is for life, not just for Christmas.”
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Dr. Maria Elena Gutierrez is the CEO and executive director of VIEW Conference, Italy’s premiere annual digital media conference. She holds a Ph.D. from Stanford University and a BA from the University of California Santa Cruz. VIEW Conference is committed to bringing a diversity of voices to the forefront in animation, visual effects, and games. For more information about the VIEW Conference, visit the official website: http://viewconference.it
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- #savethedate 12-17 October 2025
