agmtw logo
search

Arthur Christmas (2011)

Arthur Christmas (2011)

The Very Best

8.0

A hilarious, underseen holiday gem that's sweet and smart enough for adults and kids

Movie

UK, United Kingdom
English, Spanish
Adventure, Animation, Comedy, Drama
2011

What it's about

Each Christmas, Santa and his vast army of highly trained elves produce gifts and distribute them around the world in one night. However, when one of 600 million children to receive a gift from Santa on Christmas Eve is missed, it is deemed ‘acceptable’ to all but one—Arthur. Arthur Claus is Santa’s misfit son who executes an unauthorised rookie mission to get the last present half way around the globe before dawn on Christmas morning.

The take

A recent holiday classic you likely haven't seen, Arthur Christmas uses its premise of the North Pole as a massive spy organization to touch on how commercialization tears people apart. It's a surprisingly smart film with a fascinating dynamic among its family of Santas, with an incredibly funny script full of dry, British wit. And while the animation may already look dated at first glance, Arthur Christmas more than makes up for its looks with truly imaginative art direction and director Sarah Smith's fast-paced set pieces. This is that rare Chirstmas movie that doesn't just surrender to schmaltz; the lessons learned by the characters here are unique, complex, and timeless.

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

UP NEXT 

Anora (2024)

An exciting and heartbreaking fairy tale with a modern, class-centric twist

9.0

Once Were Warriors (1994)

A Maori family survives in an alienating Auckland in this raw, tragic drama

8.0

Laapataa Ladies (2024)

Two brides are accidentally swapped in this refreshing comedy of errors

8.9

Look Back (2024)

Art connects people through time and space in this short and sweet drama

9.0

Welcome to Dongmakgol (2005)

Soldiers find and protect a slice of paradise in this surreal, heartfelt war comedy

8.1

His Three Daughters (2024)

Three sisters deal with life and death in this moving family portrait

8.2

Memoir of a Snail (2024)

A crack of hope shines through in this heartbreaking animated film about preservation and perseverance

8.6

Forgotten Love (2023)

The stunning third take of the classic Polish pre-war melodrama

7.7

I Lost My Body (2019)

The Oscar-nominated unconventional animation

8.2

Leave the World Behind (2023)

Shyamalan meets Black Mirror in this hugely entertaining, visually inventive apocalyptic thriller with a killer ending

8.2

Curated by humans, not algorithms.

agmtw logo

© 2024 agoodmovietowatch, all rights reserved.