Letters to Santa
What would you expect?
Some magic. Perhaps.
Kids asking for things their parents will bend over backwards to get? Quite likely.
A discourse on the impacts of their parents’ separation on young kids? Did not expect that.
So we find Rebecca and Enrique.
Rebecca is a children’s book author struggling to think of an idea for her next book, the concept for which is due on Christmas Day (because of course it is). And then there’s Enrique, her estranged husband, who works as a GM for his mother’s restaurant. And what, pray tell, happened to cause the separation? Well, Enrique took Rebecca’s book advance $$$ and - without her knowledge or consent - poured it into his mother’s restaurant to save it from collapse. Hell-o, red flags! As Oda Mae Brown once said, “you in danger, girl.”
Their kids, hoping for a reconciliation, use a “magic” pen from Santa to write him letters, and wouldn’t you know it, the letters start coming true! This is like Elf on the Shelf on steroids! But it’s not really magic now is it? No, in this case it’s Grandma who is stealing their letters from the mailbox and fulfilling their wishes.
Complicating matters is the arrival of two potential new mates for the parents, but that is quickly dismissed. This is about getting the family back together.
I had many questions about this one, including:
Is it a felony to steal a letter addressed to a fictional character?
What grandparent gifts kids a dog without clearing it with the parents? I mean, I know I might, but I’m an exception…
Who thought it was a good idea to have a truly cringey “original, by Enrique” song playing over a montage of other scenes from the movie?!?
How did PlayStation agree to product placement in this?
And lastly, how did the book that she was pitching in the days leading up to Christmas end up wrapped and under the tree, complete with illustrations and hardcover binding by Christmas Day?
Classic Christmas movie tropes:
Visits to Santa
Christmas market
Cutting down the tree
You’ll like this if…
You like your Christmas movies with a side order of potential divorce.
SCORE: 2/10
Tell me more!
When young siblings receive a magic pen from Santa that appears to be granting wishes, they request a Christmas gift they want more than anything – for their separated parents to reunite. Starring Katie Leclerc and Rafael de la Fuente.
