There are Christmas films that will rightfully forever be considered as classics and then at the opposite extreme there are those movies which forever exist under the radar, known only to a handful of fans. Kristin's Christmas Past falls into this category, an absolute gem of a film almost completely unknown outside of its fan base.
Its central premise is the heroine's emotional return home, a plot repeated a thousand times in a thousand different Hallmark movies. The difference this time is the quality of the script and the brilliant touching interplay between the leads. Kristin's waking up on Christmas Eve 1996, the year she left her family home never to return, gives us comedy moments, teenage angst and some genuinely heartfelt moments involving Kristin, her father, mother and aunt. One moving scene in particular situated under the Christmas tree is an acting masterclass in itself.
Shiri Appleby does a brilliant job as Kristin, a perfectly pitched and nuanced portrayal of someone trying to atone for past mistakes and to compensate for lost time. Elizabeth Mitchell as her Mother and AJ Langer as her Aunt Debbie both provide strong support and the interplay between the three is very touching. In addition, the scenes involving Kristin and her younger teenage self, played by Hannah Marks, are also well written and performed. There is also a bell chiming scene which is perfectly played by the leads.
Kristin's Christmas Past will forever stay under the radar but do yourself a favour and check it out. You'll soon find yourself adding it to your own classic Christmas movies list.
Lastly, for reasons known only to the film's marketing idiots, the film name was changed to Last Chance Christmas and Debbie Ryan was listed as the star on the poster at Appleby's expense. Ignore this re-writing of history and appreciate the skill and care which was put into this film by Appleby and her co-stars.
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