A comedy about a family's efforts to be virtuous, culminating in a Christmas dinner rife with miscommunications, romantic misadventures, and a potential hostage crisis.
Christmas is a time of getting together. Of fun and love. A time of Santa Claus and shopping for decorations. In the run-up to their annual Christmas dinner, we follow several family members in their separate failing attempts to be a good person.
We start with Brechtje (60), the mother of the family, who gets cancelled by everyone without understanding why. Her husband, Martijn (62), falls in love with his younger colleague, but a true love like this just can’t be denied - or so Martijn thinks. Their son-in-law, Justus (34), gets lost on a Don Quichotesque quest for his masculinity, stretching his boundaries as well as his sphincter. While Jos (28), the middle child of Brechtje and Martijn, changes the world around with her tolerance and open mindedness - until her girlfriend wants to have a threesome. And all of that happens just before their annual Christmas dinner.
(This Is Not) A Christmas Movie is a black comedy ensemble film that doesn’t mean to judge anyone, but does want to hold up a distorting mirror to ourselves. It means to get a grip on the complicated times in which we now live. A time wherein everyone believes to have the answer, but no one listens. And so we end up in yet another Christmas dinner full of misunderstandings, accusations, bickering and maybe even in the escalating hostage of an attention-seeking adolescent son.
Genres
Comedy, Drama
Duration
1 x 115'
Language
Dutch
Cast
Jacqueline Blom, René van Zinnicq Bergmann, Georgina Verbaan, Barbara Sloesen, Kiefer Zwart, Stefanie van Leersum
Director
Michael Middelkoop
Scriptwriter
Lotte Tabbers, Isis Cabolet
Production Company
100 Prcnt Film (formerly Halal)
Producer
Gijs Kerbosch, Guusje van Deuren, Ingmar Conjarts
Production Year
2023
Awards
Nominated
Netherlands Film Festival 2024
Best Director (Michael Middelkoop)
Best Screenplay (Lotte Tabbers, Isis Mihrimah Cabolet)
Best Supporting Actor (Laura Bakker)
Won
Netherlands Film Festival 2024
Best Director (Michael Middelkoop)
Best Screenplay (Lotte Tabbers, Isis Mihrimah Cabolet)
Best Supporting Actor (Laura Bakker)