Christmas, Again Review – A Laidback Tale of a Forlorn Christmas Tree Seller Boasts Authentic Charm
This is a New York drama with such a relaxed pace that it required a decade to reach the UK’s cinema screens. First released in the US in 2015, it’s a micro-budget first feature from debut filmmaker Charles Poekel, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style is far too genuinely independent and unaffected to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; through his lens Christmas tree lights flash like police lights. But in its own low-key way, he pitches his film just right for a modest dose of festive warmth.
A Jaded Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold
Kentucker Audley portrays Noel (it took someone in the film to joke about his name for the connection to be made). Noel returns for his fifth year selling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, working outdoors in the freezing cold and sleeping in a barely warmer caravan parked next to the trees. A few customers ask about the girl assisting him last year. But this year Noel works solo, broken-hearted and on the night shift.
There’s an observational quality to a lot of the scenes, with customers posing idle and peculiar questions. One woman requests the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (the story is set in 2014). Noel looks numb with cold physically and emotionally; he’s weary and disillusioned, though Audley’s understated acting makes it clear that he wasn’t always like this.
Quiet Moments and Glimmers of Hope
In truth, not much happens. Noel rescues a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has collapsed drunk on a bench. She reappears later in some genuinely moving scenes as Noel travels through New York, making tree deliveries – and these sequences could ignite a little flicker of good cheer even in the most cynical viewer. Poekel hasn’t made a feature since this, which is a shame – it is unmatched for authenticity and fluidity, and it’s filmed on gorgeously textured 16mm film.
A film of understated appeal and real atmosphere, portraying the loneliness and brief warmth of the holidays.
Christmas, Again opens in UK cinemas from 12 December.
