The Santa Class is a movie that doesn't take itself too seriously, which opens up the possibility for laughs in unexpected places. It's a fun watch with the family and one I'd recommend you take.
Kate (Kimberly Sustad) runs a Santa school, training the future santa's of the mall world how to handle the demanding job of being the big guy and keeping the dream alive for young people. Kate's school is an old campground. Dan (Benjamin Ayres) is the lead santa trainer at a rival santa school (why not), until he gets the boot and finds his way to Kate.
All of this is background to the real magic of the movie - when the real Santa shows up wandering the backroads near Kate's school. He has no idea who he is, but they certainly do. They enroll him in the school in the hopes that it might help him recover his lost memories and, you guessed it, save Christmas.
The Santa Class goes heavy on the laughs, and save for a few scenes (party crashing), it hits the mark. In a world where the real Santa is in your class, anything is possible. The movie focuses on acceptance, too. The perfect Christmas and the perfect Santa don't exist. All are welcome.
Sustand and Ayres complement each other well and their enemies-to-lovers romance is a welcome change of pace.
One weird note. We have no idea what the Christmas Cup is until the third act of the movie. So we really want to win it . . . But the audience doesn't know what that made-up competition entails. A bit of a miss in the editing room I think.
It's fun. I recommend you enroll in The Santa Class.
Cast Kudos: Paul Campbell as himself. The Hallmark actor really puts himself out there as himself, researching a role. He references his past rolls in many Christmas movies and is just plain funny.
Measuring Christmas Magic: Santa is real and he's in your class.
Alternative Movie titles: Santa Bootcamp; Santa School is in Session; The forgetful Santa.
