I added this 2024 Christmas movie to my Christmas movie marathon without ever having heard about it. Well, truth be told, from the movie's cover, then I wasn't really harboring much of any grand expectations to the movie. Yeah, I know, don't judge a book by its cover.
However, I have to admit that writers Alexandre Coscas, Joseph Kelbley and Russell Hainline really surprised me with the script and storyline that they put together for director Lucie Guest to bring to the screen. It was a refreshing script that didn't dive into the standard tropes of sappy Christmas movies all the way. Sure, there were sappy Christmas movie elements here and there, but in overall, it was actually a good change of pace in terms of Christmas movie storytelling. So thumbs up to the writers for that accomplishment.
I was not familiar with the cast ensemble in the movie, and that is actually something I do enjoy when I sit down to watch a movie. And I will say that the acting performances in "The Santa Class" were good.
The character gallery in the movie was nicely written. I definitely enjoyed the offbeat and quirky characters that were training for Santa duty.
If you enjoy Christmas movies and want something that offers more than just your average copy/paste Hallmark sappy Christmas movie formula, then you definitely should take 84 minutes to sit down and watch this movie. I was genuinely and wholeheartedly entertained.
My rating of director Lucie Guest's 2024 movie "The Santa Class" lands on a six out of ten stars.