A Boy Called Christmas is a 2021 British Christmas fantasy film directed by Gil Kenan from a screenplay by Ol Parker and Kenan, based on the 2015 book of the same name by Matt Haig. In the United Kingdom, the film was classed as a Sky Original and became available to watch on Sky Cinema and streaming on Sky's streaming service NOW.

In the forest, Nikolas finds a group of hunters and Little Kip, but he is trapped by the hunters and discovers his father is along with them. Joel has a change of heart and comes up with a plan. He frees Nikolas, Little Kip, and Blitzen and they run away from the hunters. Blitzen is unable to lift the sled with Joel sitting in it, so he decides to sacrifice himself to allow the trio to fly away. Mother Vodol then tells him about how she lost faith in the humans when news spread in the place that the men (including Joel) took Little Kip. Nikolas tells her that his mother always remembered how joyful it was in Elfhelm. A deal was completed in May 2016 for the book to be adapted into film by Blueprint Pictures and StudioCanal. Ol Parker was set to write the screenplay. [5] [6] Jaafar, Ali (16 May 2016). " 'The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel's Ol Parker To Adapt 'A Boy Called Christmas' For Studio Canal, Blueprint – Cannes". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 27 December 2021.The film was released on 26 November 2021 in the United Kingdom, Australia, New Zealand, France, Germany and China, by StudioCanal, [2] while Netflix released the film elsewhere, [3] on 24 November 2021. [4] The film was released on DVD. Nikolas is able to see the place after believing in the elves and tries to stay in the town. He learns that a group of humans, including Joel, has kidnapped a small elf called Little Kip. Nikolas is sentenced to be eaten by a troll in the Dark Tower. Nikolas manages to escape with the help of a young fairy called the Truth Pixie. He then decides to try to find Joel's party and clarify the misunderstanding. We were careful to build a mouse that, although designed and thus a little stylized, would be convincingly performed as if by a real mouse,” explained Animation Supervisor Dale Newton. “We found some harvest mice at a summer fair that were especially sweet. We shot hours of reference material observing the way they walk, breathe, climb, sniff, snuffle and yawn, all of which was analyzed and rebuilt by our assets team into our Miika animation puppet.” The animation team then used the same footage to immerse themselves into the headspace when coming up with performances. “I think some of my favourite Miika moments are those that have been carefully observed from life and adapted into a scene in the film.” Kenan summed up the benefits of this ‘real is better’ approach to film-making: “It was a lot of trouble to go through for a shot that could have been completely virtual, but the tactile nature of the finished sequence — and the fact that I get hungry every time I watch it — suggests that the trouble was worth it.” Key to imbuing the film with a sense of place and wonder was an early recce to Lapland, taken by Kenan, Pratt and production designer Gary Williamson. “We went in December, when the sun rises at 11:30 a.m. and sets at 1:30 p.m. Your whole day lasts three hours, but it’s ‘magic hour’ the whole time,” Pratt noted. “You get this incredibly special light, and this wonderful palette went on to infuse the film and, of course, our VFX.”

Elfheim aside, A Boy Called Christmas also allowed the visual effects artists at Framestore to create environments entirely in CG. Mid-way through the film, Miika and Nikolas happen upon a mouth-watering ‘cake city,’ and Miika wastes no time diving into this delicious biscuity construction. A Boy Called Christmas Glen and Framestore were creative collaborators on the film from the very earliest stages of pre-production all the way through to final color,” said Kenan. “Working together from script to screen meant that we could develop ideas and evolve storytelling in real time, so that by the time we were in post-production most foundational questions were answered and we could focus on the essentials like performance. We had many conversations about approach in prep, including a pivotal scout to the arctic circle that inspired much of the journey in the film. During this period we came up with the methodology for marrying extraordinary natural environments with stylized but photoreal characters and sets. Glen [Pratt, overall VFX Supervisor], Jo [Nodwell, VFX Producer], Stuart [Penn, VFX Supervisor], Dale [Newton, Animation Supervisor], Chris [Hurtt, Animation Supervisor] and their teams put their hearts and souls into helping to tell this story and the finished film shines because of it.” a b Cannon, Nicholas (26 November 2021). " 'A Boy Called Christmas' — release date, cast, plot and everything we know about this new movie". What to Watch . Retrieved 27 December 2021. Miika the mouse became the star of the show for me” said VFX Supervisor Stuart Penn. “When developing the look, we started off with a photoreal mouse, and then exaggerated some features, making sure his mouth stayed mouse-like, but was able to ‘talk’ using an open/close movement. We were working with much fewer muscles than there would be in a human face, so we helped make him more expressive by twitching his nose, and using his eyes and ears to convey emotion as well.” Wiseman, Andreas (15 April 2019). " 'A Boy Called Christmas': Kristen Wiig, Maggie Smith, Sally Hawkins Among Cast For Studiocanal, Netflix & Blueprint Movie". Deadline Hollywood . Retrieved 27 December 2021.Gil always seems to be storyboarding on his iPad,” recalled Pratt. “I actually remember him showing me this idea in the Framestore reception — he had the storyboard mapped out, and I loved it straight away. The clarity of his vision for the scene meant we could really hit the ground running, and despite its complexity it didn’t require a lot of iterative work.

The movie ends with Aunt Ruth finishing her story and the father of the children arriving. Due to their mother's passing, the family had decided to not celebrate Christmas that year. However, when they walk into the dining hall, they find the room decorated for Christmas, as if by magic. One day, the King calls his subjects and promises a big reward if someone is able to find an object that would bring hope to the kingdom. Joel joins a group of hunters to try to find Elfhelm. Joel leaves Nikolas under the care of Aunt Carlotta, a selfish woman who makes Nikolas's life miserable. The trio reaches Elfhelm but finds nothing there except for Joel's knife. Nikolas loses hope and collapses. He is found by Little Noosh and Father Topo. Father Topo gives Nikolas a "hope spell" that allows him to recover. Father Topo informs him that he is in Elfhelm, but it is only visible to the people who believe in the place.year-old Nikolas and his father Joel, a woodcutter, live in the forest. Nikolas's mother had died two years before, eaten by a bear, and Nikolas tries to take comfort every night remembering the legend of a place called Elfhelm, where a girl found a magical place inhabited by elves that helped her to survive the winter. One night a mouse tries to steal some food but his life is spared by Nikolas who calls the mouse Miika and tries to teach him to speak. A beguiling read, filled with warmth and humour, and a vibrant celebration of the power of books to change lives." A Boy Called Christmas is available to watch on Netflix internationally, and on Sky’s NOW service in the U.K. & Ireland.

Kenan directed from a screenplay he wrote with Ol Parker ( The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel). The film’s cast list also includes Maggie Smith, Jim Broadbent, Joel Fry, Kristen Wiig, Toby Jones, Sally Hawkins, Rune Temte and Abiola Ogunbiyi.a b "StudioCanal, Netflix and Blueprint Pictures – A BOY CALLED CHRISTMAS". Netflix Media Center . Retrieved 27 December 2021. Haig is one of the most inspirational popular writers on mental health of our age and, in his latest novel, he has taken a clever, engaging concept and created a heart-warming story that offers wisdom in the same deceptively simple way as Mitch Albom's best tales"