That Christmas

I don't particularly care for the doll-like animation, but there's a couple notions in this movie that I like: one, that not everybody likes Christmas, and two, that "naughty" is subjective.

The stories are all individually charming, but overly familiar animation and underwhelming character-design blunt the effect. 

Schmaltz-heavy and wishlist-thin, That Christmas offers very little and doesn’t even have the self-awareness to include the receipt.

It’s all more or less sufferable, and it may well keep young children quiet at Christmas… but we surely needed a higher joke content.

That Christmas is like a neutered Motherland, or Pixar but lobotomised and dressed by Boden.

... The writing’s sentimental and/or smirky longueurs are remedied by the animation itself, whose cosy charm has a distinctly British sensibility – from the architecture to the landscape and even the colour palettes, everything is satisfyingly just right.

It's not one of the toxic jollifications we complain about... A perfectly entertaining holiday movie.

It’s generally acceptable viewing fodder for families in spite of being mostly forgettable, the movie equivalent of a snowflake that dissolves the instant it drifts into your hot cocoa.

Co-written by Richard Curtis and based on his best-selling illustrated children’s books, That Christmas keeps itself busy.

With enough emotional catharsis at the end of the animated feature, That Christmas could be a nice gateway into Christmas storytelling for kids and teens.