User reviews

This film has all the right pieces of a Christmas movie, annoying kid learns a heartfelt message, but it's bland. The characters are expected and the budget obviously low. But, it's an easy watch.

For a Dutch/Belgian production I found it a nice and warm Christmas movie.

The acting isn't special as well as the storyline.

But what stood really out was the surprisingly pleasantsoundtrack by the young and talented German composer Anne Kathrin Dern. It was very much reminding me of John Williams his music for Harry Potter and Home Alone, although it lacks thematic material to be in our collective memory.

Not even Jan Decleir can raise the level of this movie. It has its funny moments, but all in all a forgettable movie. I've watched with my children and even they shared my opinion.

Enjoyable but not waaaaw, I've seen better! To predictable and mediocre. The settings are nice and even my hometown was used. Merry Xmas everyone!

This is a typical family XMas movie, especially for families with younger children. Beautifully made (lighting, photography, sets,...), but very predictable. Let's say it fits the Season. 😊

To those saying it's a foreign movie with English dubbed the reality is its a foreign movie with the option to dub in English. The. Original language with subtitles is available. As for the movie it's aimed at children and semi enjoyable for adults.

In contrast to your typical Hollywood Christmas movie, this is a bad movie overall. The storyline is mediocre, and the soap-like acting is just annoying.

If you're looking for a Christmas movie with all the polish of Hollywood then this may not be for you.

If you're listening to the dubbed English version then you'll find the voice acting falls a little flat sometimes. The storyline is cute, the backdrop and the settings along with the music are very cute but the story and execution is a little weak.

It hits all the expected plot points you'd look for in a Christmas movie (Family, reluctance and redemption) but it feels forced.

However it is easy to watch and a good bit of cheesy magic to pass the time during the festive season.

Even my 11 year old thought this was a poorly written and directed movie. No real love for detail, plot or characters found anywhere. This was a difficult watch and I watch the hallmark channel movies with my wife regularly and even tolerate them. Yet this was somehow harder. It's like someone just made this to make a movie for holidays to say they did. There's better movies out there to watch for holidays. This one isn't worth the time.

To explain a little more: The characters are shallow, 1 dimensional and 180 on the spot without real buildup or growth. Scene setting quality is really poor. Holding a list of presents for an entire country and talking about how much work still left and the whole list is maybe 10 names tops. Packing manually for every kid in the country? Seriously? I mean a lot of stupid things they could have easily written off to "Santa or Elf magic" but instead decided to make mundane and boring as hell. No depth at all. And acting is very shallow and poor. Maybe a 4-7 year old crowd might enjoy it. But my 11 year old was bored, my wife who watched hallmark channel movies was bored and I honestly wanted to do anything else than watch this train wreck.

I am 70 years old. I watched 30-40 streaming Christmas movies this holiday season plus several I own on DVD. This is the ONE new movie I have been trying to find on DVD. I thought the script was original, acting excellent, great costumes. Terrific. I recommend this movie to my friends. Bah humbug to those of you expecting fine art films at Christmas. This is heartwarming, interesting, and just what I want in a Christmas movie.

This movie has most things a good christmas film needs. Dialogues and screenplay are top notch with many funny and moving moments. Some of the actors were not always convincing in every scene, but overall well-delivered performances. Decleir as Santa is a true delight, as are many of the supporting roles, like Stefaan Degand, Sien Eggers and Pommelien Thijs.

An extremely rude and selfish boy, I will never recommend this movie to a child, because is a bad example! I can only use this film as an example to show how good therapy could have helped the boy through the grieving process.

The little child is so arrogant that he didn't even want to finish watching the movie. Not to mention he's annoying naughty. Don't worth the time wasted. I think this movie. I think this movie is not even for adults much less for children, because it inflicts childish misbehavior and rebellion.

The whole movie is just sad. The whole music is giving you a vibe that you are almost going to cry. Then there is this sad family that copes with loss and a half senile santa. The production value isn't big, and some performances questionable. There is also a side storyline that makes no sense with the mums new jobs. Also we get some cuts to jump between two timelines, one year before and the present which felt weird. I don't have anything good to say about the movie. I would prefer something more upbeat like Tim Allen Santa Clause. This is the complete opposite. There are a couple of emotional moments that worked but most of the movie was just sad and boring.

Both kids are so horribly dubbed in such a way that it severely detracted from the experience. Movie was alright but was all over the place in pacing and didn't have a clear idea what it wanted to be. Sort of bad crossover of 'Alles is Liefde' meets 'K3 in smurfenland'

Just a good feel good movie with nice humor and some nice twist. The movie is made for children but also enjoyable for adults.

If you take out the Dutch actors, it is a very nice film, that is íf you like xmas-films (and I don't particularly like them). However, I like the Flemish actors (=The Dutch speaking Belgians), they perform far more natural than Dutch actors. Dutch actors are horrible in performing natural. The Flemish saved this movie!

It's a foreign movie with English voice over. Seems like the description should mention that minor fact. Netflix must have been desperately seeking a bargain Christmas movie to add to the list.

Very entertaining with beautiful messages, for a lover of Christmas movies an absolute recommendation. I'm also a lover of Dutch movies but the quality of this one is much better. Felt as a big Hollywood movie. I liked it al lot as Dutchman.

To the person who said it's a dubbed over movie. All you have to do is click the button on the right hand corner and change it back to the original language. There are other languages besides English you know. As someone that enjoys movies from all over this was a great Christmas film. Really enjoyed it. The plot could be a bit better but it made for a enjoyable watch with some funny and sad moments.