Faith&Friends
FAITH BUILDERS
A Boy Called Christmas In this new movie, young Nikolas is tasked with bringing a spark of hope to the world. by Diane Stark
R
eleased on Netflix in November, A Boy Called Christmas is an origin story of Father Christmas based on the children’s book by Matt Haig of the same name. Dangerous Journey Eleven-year-old Nikolas (Henry Lawfull) has only received one gift in his entire life: a doll carved out of a turnip. The doll was a present from his parents, so Nikolas loves it. But when his mother dies and his father goes missing, he’s left in the care of Aunt Carlotta (Kristen Wiig), who clearly doesn’t enjoy children. Nikolas suspects that his father has gone to the North Pole to search for the fabled, magical village of the elves, Elfhelm, but Aunt Carlotta screeches that everyone knows there’s no such thing as elves. Then Nikolas receives a summons from the king. “I’m asking you to go to the very edges of our kingdom and
18 • DECEMBER 2021 I faithandfriends.ca
bring back a spark of magic to give us hope,” the king instructs Nikolas. It seems the king believes in elves, too! Nikolas sets out on his quest, his only companion a talking mouse named Miika (Stephen Merchant). “We have to go under the moon, past the sleeping giants and up the pointy mountain,” he tells the mouse. “But we’ll get there. I know we will.” Fate of a Father Nikolas and Miika help a reindeer who Nikolas names Blitzen, and he joins them on the journey. Eventually, they encounter some elves in the woods. Nikolas can’t believe it. They’re real! But where is Elfhelm? And more importantly, where is his father? “To see something, you must believe in it. Really believe,” one of the elves tells him. Nikolas closes his eyes and concentrates. When he opens them, he
