The Christmas Chronicles Parent Guide

The Pierces are preparing for their first Christmas since the death of their father (Oliver Hudson). Kate (Darby Camp) is trying her best to fill their home with the spirit of the holiday, but her mother (Kimberly Williams-Paisley) is overwhelmed with work and single parenting, and her older brother, Teddy (Judah Lewis), is only interested in hanging out with his troublemaking friends. Alone on Christmas Eve, Kate and Teddy set up a trap for Santa Claus (Kurt Russell), which ends up working a little too well, resulting in loose reindeer, a lost sack of presents, and a powerless Santa. With giftdelivery in danger and Christmas spirit dropping by the minute, Kate and Teddy team up with Santa to try to save Christmas before it’s too late.

First and foremost, let’s talk about Kurt Russell for a minute. He was born to play this role. Every step of his career has led to this exact moment, and we are not worthy. With anyone else in the red suit, this movie would have fallen flat on its face. Russell knows exactly what type of film he’s in, and he is having so much fun. He’s sincere and committed, but also leans into the silliness, and he brings a level of cool that I think Santa has been missing. Case in point, the climax of the story is a jazz musical number inside a jail cell led by Santa, and it is spectacular.

The broad strokes of the story are pretty generic; we’ve seen “kids help Santa save Christmas” a million times. Even though it’s unoriginal, this version does stand out, I think partially because of how weird it is. For example, usually the “teen boy on the wrong path” would be doing minor things, like shoplifting some candy, or going to parties, but not this time. Teddy literally steals a car within the first ten minutes. Let me repeat that: the writers decided that the best way to show the audience that Teddy is having a hard time is to have him commit grand theft auto. Go big or go home, I guess. And it just gets weirder from there. Santa gets arrested, elves throw a man out a window, our protagonists travel through wormholes, and a local bar and grill, which looks kind of like a Denny’s, has a valet service for some reason.

As far as content concerns go, it’s relatively clean, but I did find it to be weirdly dark for a family flick. It’s not scary, but there are quite a few crimes committed with varying degrees of consequence. There are some sweet messages about Christmas spirit, belief, grief, and anger, and you might even tear up once or twice. Overall, it’s a weird, fun entry into the Christmas holiday canon. If you don’t want to take my word for it, take my four-year old’s: “I loved the song in the prison”.