Dear Santa (2024)
And of course Christmas demons are nothing new. Hell, Christmas demons in movies built around kids are nothing new - Krampus, Rare Exports, and The Sacrifice Game all feature protagonists in their teens. But those are all horror movies, intended for older audiences, while Dear Santa is targeted directly at kids and families. Just make sure the kids in question aren't too young: this implicitly denies the corporeality of Santa himself (unlike this blog, which has always affirmed Santa's physical reality along with his godhood).
I should note the movies above have much more complex yuletide connections than Dear Santa. Rare Exports is based on folklore surrounding the Yule Goat, Krampus is ostensibly about the infamous demon bound by Saint Nicholas (though I'd argue the version in that movie also skews closer to the Yule Goat), and The Sacrifice Game explores pagan elements at the heart of the holiday. Dear Santa boils down to the SNL Church Lady gag where she moves the "n" in Santa to spell Satan instead. That's not a criticism of this movie: this isn't trying to explore folklore or theology. This is a family Christmas comedy, and the depiction of the devil is essentially a parody of how the figure was presented on heavy metal album covers in the '80s.
And if you want a parody of that Satan, there's really no better choice than Jack Black. As usual, Black brings a seemingly limitless amount of energy and enthusiasm to the project, and his joy is contagious. He sells his character's attempt to collect the soul of a child as almost good-natured, a contradiction at the core of this strange, fun movie.
This isn't Black's first holiday movie, of course. He also starred in The Holiday and Jumanji: The Next Level (I know: that last one's only ambiguously a Christmas movie). Come to think of it, it's a little surprising he hasn't done more movies like Dear Santa. His kid-friendly antics are a good fit for the holidays.
While I'm not saying this is among the best Christmas movies of the decade or anything, it's worth watching if you're in the mood for something ridiculous and just a bit subversive. Dear Santa does an incredible job balancing contrasting notions and tones. This is a family comedy, but it also embraces a bit of wickedness inherent in the premise - this is the sort of thing that might make a ten year old feel like they'd seen something they shouldn't have... without actually showing them anything they shouldn't see. It's sort of a magic trick that fools your brain into thinking the subject matter is darker than it actually is.
All of which is to say I'm recommending this movie. So if you're taking my advice and don't want the plot spoiled (along with a few fun moments), this is a good place to stop reading.
The main character is Liam (played by child actor Robert Timothy Smith), a dyslexic middle schooler whose parents are going through a rough patch following a tragedy that occurred prior to the start of the movie. We'll learn more about that in act three, but it resulted in Liam changing schools, leading to ongoing trouble fitting in. His only friend is Gibby, a classmate with buck teeth. Liam also has a crush on Emma, who stands up for him on a couple occasions.
Despite not seriously believing in Santa, Liam writes a letter, partially to make his mom smile and partly in a variation of Pascal's Wager (maybe there is a smidge of theology in this after all). At any rate, he miswrites "Santa" as "Satan" and his letter ends up in the hands of the devil, who visits him that night. Neither initially realizes the error - Satan thinks the letter was intended for him, while Liam believes the rotund visitor dressed in red is Kris Kringle. Satan catches on, pretends to be Santa, and grants Liam the first of what will ultimately be three wishes: in this case, he says he wishes Emma would give him a chance.
The devil makes that happen and winds up taking the three kids to a Post Malone concert, where he enchants Malone into thinking Liam is the coolest person on the planet. Liam's invited on stage, transforming him into a local celebrity. This sequence is absurd and more enjoyable than it has any right to be, largely thanks to everyone's commitment to the bit. While Black is obviously the movie's star (this is essentially a vehicle for him, after all), it's worth noting that Robert Timothy Smith deserves equal credit for selling this. The young actor does good work portraying Liam as a kind, confused kid trying to make sense of what's going on.
By this point, he's realized his guardian is Satan, not Santa, and that if he makes two more wishes, he'll lose his soul. Initially he simply resolves not to make those wishes, but he burns off one to fix Gibby's teeth.
In the middle of all this, things at home aren't going well. Liam has generally been upfront with his parents about what's been happening, and their reaction is... well... mostly what you'd expect. They think their kid is delusional and possibly having some kind of a mental breakdown. This escalates to them having him institutionalized, though they bring him home after learning his story about being onstage with Post Malone is true.
At home he overhears his parents fighting and we get the missing backstory. Prior to the start of the film, Liam's brother died in an accident, and the stress is straining their relationship. For his third wish, Liam asks for them to stay together. The devil says he'll make it happen and advises Liam to stop trying to help others and enjoy life instead. He's already sold his soul, so he doesn't really have anything left to lose.
The next day, Liam goes to school a changed kid. He stands up for himself, which feels good but doesn't quite have the effects he hoped for. Most importantly, when he tells off his English teacher Emma realizes Liam's transformed into a bully himself and wants nothing more to do with him.
Meanwhile, in hell we get another revelation: it turns out Jack Black's character has been exaggerating his resume the whole time. He's not really the devil, but is instead a demi-demon trying to earn his horns. The real Satan (played by Ben Stiller in a cameo) explains he didn't actually manage to acquire Liam's soul due to a number of loopholes. Black's character is fired and banished from hell.
He returns to Earth and visits Liam on Christmas Eve to inform him that the kid gets to keep his soul. He also reveals the final wish didn't count, because his parents actually worked out their issues on their own. As a make-good, he grants the request in Liam's original letter and brings his brother back to life.
I actually think we were cheated a bit here, as Liam's parents' memories are altered so they're unaware their younger son was ever dead. It would have been both funnier and more in keeping with the trajectory of their arcs if the movie had ended with them freaking out at the discovery, as well as having to contend with the realization all of Liam's outlandish stories have been true.
This also seemingly contradicts the demon's one limitation on wishes - that he couldn't change the past - but honestly I don't care about that.
As is, the ending is still fine. The movie works in a decent comedic bit with Liam discovering his brother's resurrection complicates his chances of reconciling with Emma, and - more importantly - the sequence where he finds his brother alive unwrapping presents is sweet. The entire resolution manages that, in fact - this has the touching, low-stakes drama of a typical Christmas movie, while still holding onto the ridiculous, dark absurdity of being a tween Faust comedy. They missed an opportunity with the parents, but overall this is enjoyable stuff.
I was a little surprised to discover the handful of reviews so far are almost uniformly negative. This one worked for me, though there's certainly a sense throughout that the jokes could stand to be better. I found this constantly funny but rarely hilarious - that's still pretty good in my book. I also think it's worth celebrating getting a holiday film with a premise this far outside the norm.
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