Review of Happy Christmas (2014) by Zac H — 01 Dec 2015

Best way to describe this movie would be...quirky. There's not much too it, nothing really happens, but there's a simple charm that makes it strangely likable. All the dialogue is improvised, which is impressive and gives the movie a more realistic feel.

It feels like watching a home movie of this family around Christmas time. It covers a few issues in an honest manner, like the different lifestyles of someone young and single and someone married with a child and how these clash, as well as the embarrassment and consequences of a hard-partying alcoholic lifestyle.

It doesn't make a commentary on these things, it sort of just shows them without any judgement and lets you make of it what you will; I really liked that. Still, the movie isn't great, and I don't think it's a movie I really see myself returning to.

It was a nice enough time, but a lack of any real arc or conflict made it feel sort of empty. Okay, but not great.