Christmas, Again Film Review – This Relaxed Tale of a Forlorn Christmas Tree Seller Has Genuine Charm
This is a New York drama with such a relaxed pace that it has taken a decade to reach the UK’s cinema screens. Initially unveiled in the US in 2015, it’s an ultra-low-budget debut from debut filmmaker Charles Poekel, taking place largely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style remains decidedly authentic-indie and naturalistic to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; through his lens Christmas tree lights blink like police lights. But in its own low-key way, he pitches his film perfectly for a little squeeze of festive warmth.
A Jaded Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold
Kentucker Audley stars as 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 resting in a barely warmer caravan parked next to the trees. A few customers inquire after the girl assisting him last year. But this year Noel works solo, broken-hearted and working the night shift.
There’s a documentary feel to a lot of the scenes, with customers posing idle and peculiar questions. A customer wants the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (this is 2014). Noel looks frozen to the bone physically and emotionally; he’s weary and disillusioned, though Audley’s subtle performance makes it clear that he hadn't always been like this.
Understated Moments and Flickers of Hope
Frankly, the plot is minimal. Noel rescues a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has collapsed drunk on a bench. She reappears later in some genuinely moving scenes as Noel drives around New York, delivering trees – and these sequences could spark a small glimmer of good cheer in the grinchiest of hearts. Poekel has not directed a feature since this, which is regrettable – you can’t beat it for naturalness and ease, and it’s shot on gorgeously textured 16mm film.
The picture of quiet appeal and real mood, capturing the solitude and fleeting warmth of the holidays.
Christmas, Again opens in UK cinemas from 12 December.
