🔗 Share this article Christmas, Again Film Review – A Laidback Tale of a Forlorn Christmas Tree Seller Has Genuine Charm This constitutes a New York drama with such a relaxed pace that it required a decade to reach the UK’s cinema screens. Initially unveiled in the US in 2015, it’s a micro-budget first feature from first-time director Charles Poekel, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style is far too genuinely independent and unaffected to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; in his view Christmas tree lights flash like police lights. But in its own low-key way, he positions the movie just right for a little squeeze of festive warmth. A Weary Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold Kentucker Audley portrays Noel (it took someone in the film to joke about his name for the connection to be made). Noel is back for his fifth year peddling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, working outdoors in the freezing cold and resting in a barely warmer caravan parked next to the trees. Several patrons ask about the girl assisting him last year. But this year Noel works solo, heartbroken and working the night shift. There’s a documentary feel to many of the scenes, with customers posing idle and peculiar questions. One woman requests the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (this is 2014). Noel looks frozen to the bone in body and spirit; he’s weary and disillusioned, though Audley’s subtle performance makes it clear that he wasn’t always like this. Understated Moments and Glimmers of Connection Frankly, the plot is minimal. Noel rescues a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has passed out drunk on a bench. She reappears later in some genuinely moving scenes as Noel drives around New York, delivering trees – and these moments could ignite a small glimmer of good cheer in the grinchiest of hearts. Poekel hasn’t made a feature since this, which is regrettable – you can’t beat it for authenticity and fluidity, and it’s filmed on gorgeously textured 16mm film. The film of understated appeal and real mood, capturing the solitude and fleeting connection of the season. Christmas, Again opens in UK cinemas from 12 December.