My quick rating – 3.4/10. The Christmas Spirit is yet another reminder of my greatest cinematic weakness. Once a movie starts, I almost never shut it off. In this case, that commitment was tested early and often. Based on the title and the vague description I stumbled across beforehand, I was somehow expecting something wildly different, something closer to “a wrestling fan is instructed to kidnap a teenage girl who resembles his dead sister to save Christmas.” (IMDB) What I got instead was a Hallmark-looking, faith-forward holiday drama that wears its Christian messaging proudly on its sleeve. And yes, I watched the whole thing.
The story centers on Faith (Ricki Nelson), who returns home after learning of her father’s tragic death. She’s now faced with a supposed life-altering choice – continue her education or abandon her plans to take over her father’s ministry. While grappling with grief, she’s visited by an unwanted celestial guest, Gabriel (Amiri Koronz Thompson), who appears to guide her through her emotional turmoil and spiritual crossroads. On paper, it’s a familiar setup for these kinds of holiday films. On screen, it feels like something you’ve already seen a dozen times, just with different actors and a slightly tweaked sermon.
The film opens with some decent Christmas visuals, festive music, and a car accident to kickstart the drama, but things go downhill quickly. The acting is, bluntly, awful across the board. Faith herself is somewhat capable and clearly trying, which almost makes it worse, because nearly everyone around her feels like they wandered in from a community theater rehearsal they didn’t want to attend. Gabriel, in particular, looks painfully bored throughout the entire movie, as if this were his acting class final exam and attendance was mandatory.
Visually, the movie screams “low-budget Hallmark knockoff,” complete with awkward transitions and an endless stream of melodramatic music swelling in the background. The score never lets a single emotion breathe on its own, constantly telling you how to feel, even when nothing particularly emotional is happening. It was testing my patience really fast.
The biggest issue, though, is how predictable and unearned everything feels. These Christian holiday films often rely on familiar beats, but The Christmas Spirit doesn’t even try to justify its supernatural angle. Faith has no reason at all why she needs an angel to help with these issues. Losing a loved one, having issues with career path, and whether to follow their parent’s footsteps are all issues people face every day without the help of an angel. The film makes it so big and so special, but it doesn’t deserve it.
The meaning of the intended message is also a bit cloudy. While there is the religious messaging in there, there is also an awkward smattering of warnings pertaining to the dangers of greed and people trying to take advantage of you that simply doesn’t ring with the same sincerity and depth that the writers must have intended. Overall, the entire experience is anything but positive and is instead boring
I’m obviously not the target audience for family-friendly Christian holiday films, but even judging it on its own terms, The Christmas Spirit is a slog. Predictable, poorly acted, and emotionally flat, it’s the kind of movie that tests your endurance more than your holiday spirit – and sadly, mine survived it, but just barely.
