Delivery by Christmas parents guide

Delivery by Christmas Parent Guide

Unappealing characters, appalling sexism, and an unconvincing plot combine in one horrendously bad holiday film.

Overall D

Netflix: When her deliveries are sabotaged, a courier must race to return all the Christmas presents to their intended recipients.

Release date December 6, 2022

Violence A-
Sexual Content D+
Profanity D
Substance Use C-

Why is Delivery by Christmas rated TV-MA? The MPAA rated Delivery by Christmas TV-MA for language, smoking.

Run Time: 97 minutes

Parent Movie Review

It’s two days until Christmas and Maria (Monika Frajczyk) is powering through her delivery schedule. As a courier, she’s living up to her company’s motto: Everything arrives by Christmas. The next day, the unthinkable happens and the addresses for her packages are switched around, meaning that her customers receive the wrong deliveries on Christmas Eve. Since her young son’s Christmas gift is amongst the parcels, Maria is highly motivated to ensure that the mistakes are rectified and everyone gets what they deserve.

Krzysztof (Piotr Pacek) is also fixated on Maria’s deliveries. The young businessman is expecting a family heirloom ring and when it doesn’t arrive, he tracks down Maria and insists on accompanying her until it’s found. His unpleasant personality takes a difficult circumstance and makes it exponentially worse.

Delivery by Christmas is a profoundly unpleasant film, which Netflix inexplicably purchased from its Polish developer. I’m not even sure what genre the movie is trying to be. There’s not enough humor for a comedy, not enough chemistry for a romance, and too much self-conscious tedium for a drama. It’s simply a cinematic failure that spends 97 miserable minutes crawling across our screens.

As the script follows the impact of the misdelivered packages on the recipients, it generates more tedious cliches. There’s the sexually frustrated middle-aged woman, her oblivious husband, a failed-to-launch man child, and a crotchety old man. None of the characters are well drawn, and some are frankly unbelievable. For instance, it’s impossible to credit that a grumpy old man who won’t pass down a family heirloom will reward a child who steals from him. It just doesn’t make sense.

It’s hard to imagine that the movie can go downhill from here, but it does. The worst part of the film is the ingrained sexism. Maria’s boss tries to kiss her at an office party and wreaks his revenge when she politely rejects him. Krzysztof treats her with disdain, criticizes her constantly, and feels free to insult her at will. His attitudes are apparently inherited since his grandfather callously says, “The morning’s rain and a girl’s pain both fade away pretty quick.” Certainly, no one in the film seems to care about Maria’s feelings, needs, or right to be treated with respect.

I can’t imagine who Netflix thinks will sit through this awful production. Not only is it painful to watch, it’s full of sexual innuendo, alcohol consumption, and profanity. For full measure, the English dub track is bad, so the subtitles are probably a better choice.

If you’re looking for holiday relaxation, there are cleaner rom-coms out there, better Christmas movies, more thoughtful interpersonal dramas, and far, far better ways to spend 97 minutes. Frankly, reorganizing your Christmas wrapping paper would be a more entertaining and productive use of your time. And it would even feel more festive. Take it from me, unless you’re looking for a holiday buzzkill and the Grinch doesn’t do it for you anymore, give this ghastly film a pass.

Directed by Aleksandra Kulakowska, Maciej Prykowski. Starring Monika Frajczyk, Piotr Pacek, Franciszek Krupowicz. Running time: 97 minutes. Theatrical release December 6, 2022. Updated

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Delivery by Christmas
Rating & Content Info

Why is Delivery by Christmas rated TV-MA? Delivery by Christmas is rated TV-MA by the MPAA for language, smoking.

Violence:   Someone mentions being bitten by a child.
Sexual Content: A woman is seen from the shoulders up in the shower; she is later seen wrapped up in a towel. A man is briefly seen without a shirt. A man tries to kiss an unwilling employee. Neighbors have a lesbian relationship. There’s suggestion of an unplanned pregnancy for an unwed couple.  A woman is seen in a negligee and is shown from the knees down as she removes the negligee and her underwear. A tribal statue with an oversized phallus is shown. A naked man is seen from behind as e propositions a married woman. A naked man embraces a married woman and removes her dress as they kiss on the sofa. A woman wears a dress with very low cleavage. A “toy doll” has explicit breasts and contains a flash drive with a link to a pole dancing video. A clothed man and woman are shown sleeping in the same bed.
Profanity: The script contains five sexual expletives, one sexual hand gesture, five crude anatomical terms, four terms of deity, two scatological curses, and three minor profanities.
Alcohol / Drug Use: A secondary character is shown intoxicated. Adults smoke cigarettes. Adults drink alcohol at an office party. A drunk man sings and shouts loudly in public.
Other: A child is seen from behind as he urinates. A child steals something from an elderly man.

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Delivery by Christmas Parents' Guide

How do people treat Maria in this film? Who treats her with respect? Why do other people seem to feel entitled to disregard her?

How does Krzysztof’s behavior change? What leads to his change of attitude? Why do you think he has such a sense of entitlement? What broadens his perspective?

Home Video

Related home video titles:

If you want to watch a better rom-com from Poland, you can try Squared Love. It isn’t great but at least it’s watchable.

If you want a Christmas romance, check out our article complete with review links: Under the Mistletoe.