Review: The Best Christmas Pageant Ever
Silent Night. Hold On Tight.
INTRODUCTION
This is a quick review of the newly released film The Best Christmas Pageant Ever. Keep in mind this is but one of the many movies I watch every year, and that whatever initial grade I come up for this film could change for better or worse with time. To better keep up to date with both my thoughts on other movies and if my feelings on this film changed, follow me on Letterboxd.
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THE PLOT
Via Letterboxd: The Herdman kids are undeniably the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, steal, cheat, bully, and overall terrorize their small community. But this Christmas, they’re taking over their local church Pageant – and they just might unwittingly teach a shocked little town the true meaning of Christmas.
QUICK REVIEW
I barely knew that the film adaptation of the seventies Christmas classic book, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, was coming out. However, some aggressive Lionsgate marketing and incredible word-of-mouth quickly made me regret missing the press screening for the movie I was invited to.
That said, it didn’t take long, barely five minutes into it, for me to realize the film wasn’t going to blow me away. The production quality felt like something straight out of a streaming service - the cinematography was dim, the score unremarkable, and the acting just fine at best.
On paper, the story seemed intriguing: a group of unruly kids, loathed by their community, becomes involved in the local Christmas pageant, and holiday magic ensues. Unfortunately, the execution is as straightforward as it sounds. These kids, initially introduced as troublemakers engaging in criminal mischief, suddenly begin to change their ways after hearing the Nativity story. That’s it. No gradual development or meaningful exploration, just a simple, almost sudden magical transformation.
As someone who is a person of faith, I’ve come to expect that faith-based films often lack depth with little meat on the bone, and unfortunately this one is no exception. The narrative tension doesn’t extend much beyond the kids being disliked by the community and their bullying antics. The Herdman clan, central to the story, is given little development beyond the eldest sibling. The result feels formulaic and predictable.
One glaring issue also took me out of the experience: these kids are portrayed as universally feared and disliked, yet the adults in the story seem oddly passive, failing to enforce any meaningful discipline or supervision.
Despite its shortcomings, though, I can’t call it an outright bad film. It succeeds in being a light, entertaining watch for families, particularly those with younger children. It’s the kind of movie you can safely enjoy with elderly parents or grandparents without worrying about modern controversies or offensive content. Ultimately, it’s a simple, inoffensive Christmas tale.
For that reason, I’m willing to give the 2024 adaptation of The Best Christmas Pageant Ever a just-passing initial grade of B-.
INITIAL GRADING
