Christmas and the holidays in general are not for everyone. Some people find them depressing. Others hate them passionately. I couldn’t really tell just from the trailer above whether Kentucker Audley‘s Noel was depressed, hating on the season passionately, or just really sad. That didn’t stop me from putting this new indie drama on my list of things to see before the end of the holiday season.

Christmas, Again tells the story of Noel, a “heartbroken” New Yorker who returns to the city to work the night shift at one of those quintessential New York staples: the sidewalk Christmas tree stand. The synopsis doesn’t give much detail on his heartbreak nor does the trailer here, but one can assume it was a catastrophic occurrence in our young protagonist’s life. New York can be a dark and depressing place in the winter despite being a city that never sleeps, and Noel battles deepening depression as he fights to stay awake during his long night hours and fights to sleep during the daytime with the hustle and bustle of New York happening just outside his door. Enter the “mysterious” young woman and cast of kooky characters who help turn his frown upside down. Hannah Gross plays Lydia opposite Audley’s Noel, and I’m going to shuffle out onto the limb of this Christmas tree and guess that Noel helps her face many problems before they fall in love by the end of the holidays.

Christmas, Again premiered at Sundance Film Festival this past year, and despite my unintended but unquenchable snark above, has garnered praise from the likes of The New York Times, The New Yorker, Variety and RogerEbert.com. All praise the lovely portrayal of urban loneliness and the nuanced situations in which we find ourselves around the holidays. The film marks cinematographer Charles Poekel‘s directorial debut. The film opens in NYC on December 3rd, and in Los Angeles on December 11th before it becomes more widely available on iTunes and other digital platforms.

Despite my unintended snark above, I always love a good holiday film that doesn’t coat absolutely every element of the story telling with sugar and spice and hot chocolate, so I’m going to get myself to the cinema for this one. Does this kind of realistic portrayal of the challenges of a holiday season intrigue as well? Tell me if you’ll be checking it out in the comments below.

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HT Slashfilm.com
Image: Charles Poekel