Worth: $12.00
FilmInk rates movies out of $20 — the score indicates the amount we believe a ticket to the movie to be worth
Cast:
Asa Butterfield, Cora Kirk, Alex Jennings, David Bradley, Harriet Walters, Daniel Mays
Intro:
… unchallenging Christmas fluff.
Your Christmas or Mine? could not be safer if you wrapped it in bubble wrap and entombed it in cotton wool. From the outset, it aims to be 2022’s comfort viewing for those wanting something that isn’t Love, Actually. While this might sound like harsh criticism, rest assured that Amazon’s latest fare abounds with charm and delight, whilst remaining unchallenging Christmas fluff.
James (Asa Butterfield) and Hayley (Cora Kirk) are two young lovers on their way to their respective families for the Christmas holidays. When the mood to be cinematically romantic catches them, both to decide to unknowingly swap trains in a last-minute Christmas surprise. Before they realise their mistake, a snowstorm stops any and all transport, thus stranding them for the Christmas period with the other’s family.
One could argue that the goal of any Christmas film would be to be as charming, irreverent and entertaining to the point that viewers would build their own Christmas traditions around it. Every year, we as an audience find ourselves in the respected traditions of arguing whether Die Hard is indeed a Christmas film and whether Love, Actually is problematic. Come the 24th of December, we’re all pressing play on those films. With Your Christmas or Mine?, it aims to do none of those things, yet simply exists to be one more thing for the average punter to scroll past on the Amazon Prime home screen. It is Christmas decoration masking as content.
It’s a shame that this film doesn’t do much to insert itself into the yearly Christmas watch schedule. There is enough at play here for there to be a movie that one returns to yearly. For one, Butterfield and co-star Kirk are egregiously charming dorks. In fact, the film is almost singlehandedly powered by their dork chemistry and any attempt to remove the other would see the whole endeavour collapse into a snowy heap.
Butterfield has mastered that nervous charm many have found so endearing on Netflix’s Sex Education, and while more of a newcomer, Kirk expertly holds her own. One could argue that Kirk’s job may be more difficult, given Butterfield is surrounded by cardboard cutouts of comedic relief for the young actor to work off. Still, charm and chemistry alone are not enough to propel the film to anything beyond background noise at a sleepy Christmas Day do.
Your Christmas or Mine? is by no means a bad film. Competently directed by television journeyman, Jim O’Hanlon, you could do much worse. There is enough appeal, faux twists and gentle drama to keep you hooked for 90 minutes. It’s easily digestible and it’s a story that never overstays its welcome. But it’s not enough to warrant a yearly rewatch, nor is it enough to claw its way out of the “It’s Fine” category.
