That Christmas | Review
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Locksmith Animation
Locksmith Animation’s second film is endemic of a studio still finding its feet. After the release of their first film, the future of the studio was up in the air. Ron’s Gone Wrong was developed with 20th Century Fox whose acquisition by Disney in 2019 put a wrench in the multi-film deal Locksmith had signed. It’s a big deal that Locksmith got to make another film, but an attitude of consolidation has creeped into the final product.
That Christmas (Dir. Simon Otto) is a grounded holiday story that tries to keep its focus on small-stakes and character development but doesn’t fully trust its audience to get by on that alone. The film splits into three ultimately converging storylines following a group of kids between Christmas Eve and Boxing Day. It focuses on each of their internal struggles; Danny’s relationship with his single mother, Sam and Charlie’s sisterly relationship and Bernadette’s ability to take care of her younger sibling.
However, this is all introduced by a “you’re probably wondering how I got here” voice over by Santa as he lands on the roof of a house on Christmas Eve. The problems with this are two-fold, firstly, it’s pretty self explanatory why Santa is on the roof of a house on Christmas Eve, but it feels placed there to assure the audience that this isn’t gonna be a boring movie about character development and emotion.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Locksmith Animation
Santa is barely a factor in the story, and That Christmas would be a lot stronger if it doubled down on its characters. When the Brian Cox-voiced toymaker is dropped back into the story halfway through, it undercuts the rising tension between characters to ensure that the movie is still fun, light and frothy, but the humour the film draws from Santa and his single reindeer aid is so bluntly forced. This is coming at a low point for the closest thing the film has to a protagonist, Danny, as he finds out that his neglectful Dad has once again failed to show up for Christmas. It makes sense why a film like That Christmas wouldn’t want its audience to stew in its saddest moments for too long, but a hint of tact and care would have gone a long way.
This applies to that emotional lowpoint too. That Christmas is so deeply committed to the typical beats of a western animated kids movie that its emotional moments don’t come off that way. Instead, you feel manipulated into feeling sad as an Ed Sheeran song blares over images of sad children. One moment near the start of the film truly shines as Danny accidentally comes to school on a snow day and is forced to spend the day alone learning Newton’s laws under the emotionless head teacher. However, during a break, they begin to build a snowman together and it creates this gorgeous moment of connection between two lonely souls. The film never really recovers that. Every beat is so expected that it robs the audience the chance to be truly invested.
The same goes for the comedic tone of the film. While there are a couple references and gags that come by surprise, the joke to be made is so obvious in each moment. Sometimes they’re old reliable situations that are always funny, others feel tired.
Photo Credit: Courtesy of Locksmith Animation
The theme of consolidation is also apparent in the film’s animation which is unimpeachable on a technical level. Everything looks exactly as it should and Locksmith executed on the exact look they were going for. The little English town constructed by the backgrounds feels cosy and the blizzardy snowscape is undoubtedly visually impressive. The character models are where those used to Pixar and Spider-verse movies might find something to bump up against. Locksmith shoot for an extra goofily cartoony look for its characters which could endear some and turn off others.
That Christmas also employs a specific style of over-animation that we see a lot in kids’ movies. There’s this unnatural thing where every syllable a character utters is met with a hand gesture or body movement. There’s no room for stillness or interpretation, every part of every character’s body must be expressing all of the exact same emotions expressed by the dialogue. That’s more of a stylistic choice than a flaw, you could fall on either side of the argument.
That Christmas will work for its intended audience, but it feels over-designed to do so. In crafting a bankable hit for kids, it’s scared of committing to any tone in any direction, making for a mishmash of things that they think might appeal to a younger audience (butt jokes, Santa injuring his balls, a Dua Lipa song). It’s a good thing that Locksmith got to make another film, but they should use this as a platform to grow from rather than making it part of their core style.