I adore a Christmas film and have a few I re-watch year after year and I'm always on the lookout for new movies to add to my annual watchlist. At the weekend I was invited to get a sneak peak at the latest offering from Channel 4, Finding Father Christmas, with a star studded ensemble cast including Lenny Rush, James Buckley, Greg Davies, Rochenda Sandall, Jason Fox, Asim Chaudhry and Sir Stephen Fry.
I was not going to miss out on the screening at BAFTA in Piccadilly complete with a festive reception with cast members and crew, mulled wine and BAFTA boxed popcorn. The fact that the film turned out to be rather wonderful was an added bonus. Although I was sad not to meet Greg Davies (a bit of a crush of mine) and national treasure Stephen Fry.
This gorgeous serving of festive film fun has everything you'd hope for from a British production. Humour, great chemistry with the cast and ALL the feels! It's clever and sweet without the saccharine schmaltz which so often leaves a bitter taste in some (particularly American) movies made for the season. Dolly Parton's Christmas in the Square- I'm looking at you.
Yes, there's a dead mother and a single dad (James Buckley of Inbetweeners fame) struggling with his son who is desperately hanging on to the family's Christmas traditions, but this is no tragic tale of woe.
An awkward conversation about the existence of the man in red prompts 16-year-old Chris (Lenny Rush) to go in search of absolute proof that Dad is wrong and he is right to continue to lay out whiskey and carrots on Christmas Eve.
With his conspiracy theory-loving, quirky cousin Holly (played by Eli Mckenzie who I LOVE!) the duo head off to meet with some great minds - all round genius Sir Stephen Fry, mega mathematician Hannah Fry (no relation) and space scientist slash science educator Dame Dr Maggie Aderin-Pocock, experts who Lenny suspects might know more than they are letting on about how Father Christmas delivers presents across the globe in one night while remaining invisible.
Now I'm not going to spoil this for you so that's all I'm giving away.
In my opinion, if you plan to watch anything on TV this Christmas, it should, no, MUST be this. You will laugh and you might cry but in the midst of what frankly is a disappointing line up across most channels, unless you are a fan of soaps and the usual weekly fodder with tinsel tacked on, this gem sparkles.
The caper will not ruin the magic for believers and might convince some on the fence that maybe they should rethink their cynicism about the existence of Old St Nick. Obviously only you can judge if your little ones might get a bit worried during the exploration of the theme-Chris's Dad at one point does state that Santa is not real, but they will be reassured by the end of the film.
I will be watching Finding Father Christmas again at 7.30pm on Christmas Eve and I believe it will also be available on E4, possibly by Boxing Day. (I will find out and update here asap.) And then I will probably watch it every year until the end of time along with my other festive faves.