A Christmas Story Christmas (2022)

We’re back on Cleveland St., at the childhood home of Ralphie Parker (Peter Billingsley)–and this year’s Christmas has just been shaken up. The Old Man has just passed away, meer days before Christmas–and Ralphie is now tasked with making this the best Christmas ever for his mother (Julie Hagerty), his wife Sandy (Erinn Hayes), and his two children, Mark (River Drosche) and Julie (Julianna Layne). However, this is A Christmas Story Christmas, and things are sure to be wild.

It’s been nearly forty years since Ralphie got his beloved Red Ryder BB Gun on Christmas Day–and since that crazy Christmas not much has changed for this fandom. We still love the stupid jokes, the crude language, and the shenanigans in which Ralphie partakes in on a regular basis. A Christmas Story Christmas throws us right back into Ralphie’s life, and we never miss a beat along the way. It’s no secret that one of the biggest issues that people have with sequels is that things don’t live up to what existed in previous films. We all want more of what we love, and that’s exactly what Director Clay Kaytis and Writers Nick Schenk, Kaytis, and Billingsley do here with A Christmas Story Christmas. They do everything that fans could have wanted and more–effectively creating the perfect piece of holiday nostalgia.

While I’ve always loved the score present in A Christmas Story, I’m not sure that I’ve ever realized just how important it is to the overall film (because I’ve always viewed the film as a fan rather than a critic). It’s masterful, and it constantly propels the film forward–and A Christmas Story Christmas brings back the epic sounds of its predecessor, and once again it’s brilliant. As I heard the sounds of this beloved film echo through my basement I was nearly brought to tears, reminded of how important these stories are to me. Composer Jeff Morrow must bring the sounds created by Paul Zaza and Carl Zittrer back to life, reinvigorate fans, and pair those sounds with a new story. He does this with poise from the opening moments, and everything that existed in the previous film comes rushing back like a stampede. It’s everything that I could have hoped for.

At this point I would venture to guess that many people are aware of the horrific sequels to A Christmas Story–ones that instantly flopped (but fortunately didn’t tarnish the name of the best Christmas film ever made). Now, far enough removed from those atrocities, A Christmas Story Christmas exists with the actual actors from the original film. Billingsley is back, Scott Schwartz (Flick) is back, R.D. Robb (Schwartz) is back!–and their ability to fall right back into the shoes of their characters is simply impeccable. The reality is that without Billingsley this film can’t happen, the story that is presented to viewers can’t live up to the hype–and his presence in this film means more to the fans of A Christmas Story than I think he could ever know. Schwartz and Robb are welcome additions–one’s that I’m not sure I knew that I needed, but much like Billingsley they are essential to A Christmas Story Christmas.

Emotions run wild in A Christmas Story Christmas. From genuine happiness to sincere sadness, viewers run the gamut of emotions–and that comes as a result of a series of things. The constant callbacks to the original film–single words, touching voice overs, and whitty gestures–all put a smile on my face, and that smile existed almost from beginning to end. Now, for the other side of things–the sadness, the pain. Built right into the heart and soul of A Christmas Story Christmas is the death of the Old Man–and seeing pictures of him, hearing his voice, produced a flood of emotions. Once again, tears flooded my eyes, overwhelmed me–and time and time again, as they constantly referenced Darren McGavin and his brilliance, I was brought back again and again.

As I mentally prepared myself for A Christmas Story Christmas, I tried to tell myself that there’s a chance that things won’t be as good as A Christmas Story, that there was a chance that I would ultimately be let down by what Kaytis, Billingsley, and the rest of the team brought to the table forty years later–and fortunately, I couldn’t have been more wrong. Everything that I hoped for came to be. Every joke, every callback, every second of this film worked. I absolutely love this film. Maybe it’s the nostalgia talking (I’m not entirely sure that it is), but A Christmas Story Christmas is damn near perfect, and it’ll certainly be thrown into the annual Christmas movie rotation.

Directed by Clay Kaytis.

Written by Nick Schenk, Peter Billingsley, & Clay Kaytis.

Starring Peter Billingsley, Erinn Hayes, River Drosche, Julianna Layne, Julie Hagerty, Scott Schwartz, R.D. Robb, etc.

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐/10