The Reel Review
A typically cheerful Christmas holiday gathering of lifelong friends at a country estate in rural England takes on a morose, apocalyptic tone, in this 2021 dark comedy/horror starring Keira Knightley, Matthew Goode and Roman Griffin Davis, giving new meaning to the holiday tune, “Last Christmas.”
Writer/director Camille Griffin’s feature film debut packs quite the jarring tonal shift as details unfold about events to occur later that night. But despite a solid leading cast and a supporting lineup that includes Lucy Punch (Into the Woods, Bad Teacher), Annabelle Wallis (Malignant), Lily-Rose Depp (The Idol) and Davida McKenzie (sister of Thomasin) as the bratty Kitty – the humor often fails to stick the landing and the characters are never really developed enough for us to care how they each plan to die.
The director gives her son Roman Griffin Davis (Jojo Rabbit) the bulk of screentime, as young Art worries about how to avoid the approaching doom. But even that drama in the third act gets clunky, with dimly lit scenes that are difficult to see and a few too many pointless scenes which feel like throwaway time fillers. As far as apocalyptic dramas go, there are many that are better than this strange, depressing film.
REEL FACTS
• Writer/director Camille Griffin cast her three sons – Roman Griffin Davis, Gilby Griffin Davis and Hardy Griffin Davis – as Nell and Simon’s three sons.
• Keira Knightley and Matthew Goode previously starred together in 2014’s The Imitation Game (for which Knightley picked up her second Oscar nomination) and 2019’s Official Secrets.
• Keira Knightley lives with her husband, musician James Righton, and their two daughters in the London suburb of Canonbury.
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