THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES
A funny, heartfelt Christmas adventure with a few naughty choices.
Should You Watch It?
THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES is an energetic Netflix Christmas movie with a lot going for it. It is very funny, action-packed, and full of heartwarming, pro-family, redemptive content. Its central message involves loving your brother or sister, risking your life to save others, and being a true believer.
The movie also asks your family to sit with some uncomfortable choices. Children steal a stolen car, Santa makes excuses for breaking the law and tells some fibs, and the children refuse to enter a church. The elves’ transformation into gremlins adds another strange element, while magic shapes the entire Christmas adventure.
The answer is simple: middle schoolers and older viewers can watch it with discernment, while parents should decide carefully for younger children.
The Story
NO SPOILERS — WE KEEP THE SURPRISESOn Christmas Eve, Teddy and his younger sister, Kate, try to videotape Santa Claus. When they chase him and jump into his sleigh, they cause a disastrous chain of events that threatens Santa’s Christmas Eve mission.
The siblings must help Santa recover what he has lost and finish delivering presents before sunrise. Their adventure takes them from Chicago to the North Pole, with police, thieves, reindeer, elves, and plenty of Christmas chaos along the way.
Is It Any Good?
Four stars means this is a highly entertaining Christmas movie. THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES is very funny, fast-paced, and action-packed, blending the feel of HOME ALONE, GREMLINS, and other Santa Claus movies.
The film also has a lot of heart. Its family-centered story emphasizes sibling love, sacrifice, redemption, and the willingness to save others. The comedy and action keep the movie moving, while the redemptive content gives the adventure emotional weight.
Its weaknesses are moral rather than chiefly artistic. The stealing, pratfalls, fibs, and magical gremlins make this a less straightforward family recommendation than its warmth and humor might suggest.
The Worldview
THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES presents a strong redemptive storyline centered on family love, sacrifice, and belief in Santa Claus. Teddy struggles with resentment after his fireman father dies saving people he does not know. Through the Christmas adventure, Teddy and Kate learn to love one another and become willing to risk their lives to help Santa and others.
The film’s moral vision is compromised by its treatment of wrongdoing. Teddy and his friends steal a car, Santa steals a stolen car and rationalizes the act, and Santa tells some fibs. The movie also includes a strange moment when the children hear people singing in a church but decide not to enter. Santa Claus magic about Christmas, along with elves that turn into gremlins, further shapes the film’s spiritual world.
Still, the story honors self-sacrifice and the love shown by a parent who gives his life for people he does not know. That part of the film aligns with Jesus’ words: “Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends” (John 15:13). The movie points toward sacrificial love, even when its treatment of truth and wrongdoing remains uneven.
The Content Guide
The specifics — spoilers included by nature — so you can judge for your own family.
Content Summary
<strong>
Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements
</strong> Strong redemptive storyline mixed with Santa Claus magic about Christmas with some strange moments when children refuse to enter church, when Santa rationalizes breaking the law, when boys’ auto theft is dismissed, but other good moments when fireman father gives up his life for people he doesn’t know, and boy and girl are willing to give up their lives to help Santa, and some strange elves that sometimes act like gremlins; <strong>
Foul Language
</strong> Five obscenities and six light exclamatory profanities; <strong>
Violence
</strong> Lots of comic slapstick violence such as girl falls from sleigh almost to the Earth, girl falls through Santa’s red bag into the North Pole, elves attack girl and attack robbers, policeman forces Santa to the ground and handcuffs him, bartender threatens to beat people with a baseball bat, etc.; <strong>
Sex
</strong> No sex; <strong>
Nudity
</strong> No nudity; <strong>
Alcohol Use
</strong> Alcohol in the bar, and girl says she shouldn’t be there; <strong>
Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse
</strong> Smoking content and/or level of drug use or abuse; and, <strong>
Miscellaneous Immorality
</strong> Brother and sister fight but they learn how to love one another, protagonists steal a stolen car and Santa makes excuses, and Santa tells some fibs.
Talk About It
Four questions for the couch, the commute, or the couple bingeing it together.
Teddy resents his father for dying while saving a stranger. What does sacrificial love look like, and why can it be difficult to understand?
John 15:13 · Philippians 2:3–4Teddy and Kate begin by fighting but learn to love one another. What helps turn conflict into forgiveness in your family?
Ephesians 4:32 · Colossians 3:13Santa excuses stealing because the car was already stolen. Does someone else’s wrongdoing make our own wrongdoing right?
Romans 12:17 · 1 Peter 3:9The children hear people singing in a church but decide not to enter. What place should worship and the birth of Christ have in your family’s Christmas?
Luke 2:10–14 · Hebrews 10:24–25The Final Word
THE CHRISTMAS CHRONICLES is a funny, energetic, and heartfelt Christmas adventure with strong family and redemptive themes. Its magic, profanity, comic violence, stealing, and moral lapses call for discernment. For middle schoolers and up, WORTH WATCHING — MIDDLE SCHOOL AND UP.
