STREAMING REVIEW:
Netflix;
Comedy;
Not rated.
Stars Olivia Holt, Conner Swindells, Lucy Punch, Peter Serafinowicz, Poppy Drayton.
Jingle Bell Heist is Netflix’s latest offering in the holiday rom-com genre, but with a welcome twist: it’s a Christmas caper. Directed by Michael Fimognari (of the “To All the Boys” trilogy), the film wisely grounds itself in the very real, very un-Hallmark-like city of London, which ends up being one of its biggest strengths. The movie stars Olivia Holt as Sophie, an American retail worker whose mother is British. Sophie moved her mother back to the U.K. specifically to access the public healthcare system for her cancer treatment, hoping it would be better than the U.S. system. However, the doctor informs her that the public system has a long waiting list for the treatment she needs, forcing Sophie to pay out of pocket and go private — putting her right back where she started. This financial crisis drives her entire character arc, lending the film its sharp social commentary on healthcare.
Sophie’s desperation brings her into contact with Nick (Connor Swindells), the film’s true hero and a desperate father. Nick is a jaded British ex-security consultant who not only lost his job but served time by pleading guilty to the crime the corrupt store owner, Maxwell Sterling (Peter Serafinowicz), framed him for. Now he’s either estranged or divorced from his wife, and she is threatening to move to Birmingham with their young daughter. Nick’s whole motivation for the heist is to secure cash for a two-bedroom apartment to stabilize his life, obtain visitation rights, and keep his daughter close in London. Swindells, who you might remember as Adam Groff from “Sex Education,” brings a nice, familiar British groundedness to the role. When Nick catches Sophie making petty thefts, he blackmails her into a larger scheme to rob the luxury Sterlings London Department Store, less for the cash and more for revenge.
The movie is certainly overstuffed, meaning it tries to cram too many disparate plots —like a heist, a romance, a social commentary and a family secret — into a single, short runtime.
While I found the film entertaining, it does suffer from the usual contrivances — though I would say this film is way less contrived than The Merry Little Ex-Mas. The production design, which relies heavily on interior sets and very little outdoor space, attempts to capture a posh London look, clearly styled after a Harrods-type department store to evoke that exclusive Knightsbridge neighborhood feel. While the exterior locations were actually shot in South London neighborhoods like Brixton, I personally didn’t notice the difference. And honestly, for most U.S. audiences, that distinction won’t even register, allowing the atmosphere to work despite the slightly artificial look.
Furthermore, the movie tells us that Sophie works at the department store and as a bartender at night, but that exhausting reality is barely developed. This constant rushing contributes to continuity errors such as having Sophie perform an activity the day before that didn’t make any sense in the timeline. It’s a minor thing, but it interrupts the flow when the movie is rushing through its plot points.
Despite its faults — including the fact that while the romance itself is fairly believable given the shared, desperate circumstances, the on-screen chemistry between the leads is just okay — Jingle Bell Heist is a streaming success, having topped the Netflix charts globally. The key to its watchability is simple: discipline. The film’s success is also due to good acting, visual appeal and a fairly decent story with some teeth, but its primary flaw is apparent: Strong ideas are sacrificed for execution and development to squeeze all its genres and twists into that tight 1 hour and 36 minutes. The runtime (including the running footage in the credits) is a perfectly bite-sized seasonal treat. Had it been any longer, those thin plot points and the lack of truly sizzling chemistry would have become fatal flaws. It is a worthwhile, family-friendly view if you are looking for background cheer and a low-stakes escape. But let’s be clear: This film will not be a Christmas classic by any stretch. It’s a pleasant, disposable distraction for a cozy night when you can’t find anything better to watch this holiday season.
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