Christmas Again Review – A comforting tale of a hapless Christmas tree salesman with genuine magic | film

TIt’s a New York drama so cozy that it took a decade to reach UK cinema screens. First released in the United States in 2015, it is an ultra-low-budget feature debut from director Charles Buckell, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stand. Poekel’s style is too authentic and unaffected to become independent or sentimental about Christmas. Through his lens, Christmas tree lights flashed like police lights. But in his understated way, he presents his film appropriately to add a bit of festive warmth.

Kentucker Audley plays Noel (it took someone in the movie making a joke about his name before I moved). Noel returns for his fifth year selling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, standing outside in the freezing cold and sleeping in a not-so-warmer caravan parked next to the trees. Some clients ask about the girl who worked with him last year. But this year Noel is lonely and heartbroken and working the night shift. There is a documentary feel to many of the scenes, with the agents asking random, pointless questions. One woman wants the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (this is 2014). Noel appears frozen to the bone, both physically and emotionally. He’s exhausted and disillusioned, though Audley’s nuanced performance makes clear that he wasn’t always this way.

In fact, not much happens. Noel rescues a woman named Lydia (Hannah Gross) who has passed out drunk on a bench. They appear again later in some truly touching scenes as Noel drives around New York delivering trees – and these moments can spark a little joy in people’s hearts. Poekel hasn’t made a film since, which is a shame – you can’t beat it for naturalness and ease, and it was shot on gorgeous 16mm film.