TL;DR – A fun, delightful romp through something we have all experienced, a big family Christmas dinner where nothing goes right.

Post-Credit Scene – There is no post-credit scene.

Disclosure – I paid for the Stan service that viewed this film.

Warning – contains scenes that may cause distress.

Jones Family Christmas Review –

It is getting to the end of the year, and one of the many constants is that Stan is going to release a Christmas movie. It is one of those odd Australian traditions that have started over the last few years, and they all tend to be charming in their own way. Well, it is time for 2023’s entry, where we end up in rural Victoria.
 
So to set the scene, it is coming close to Christmas time, and Heather Jones (Heather Mitchell) is rejoicing for the first time in the age all of her children Christina (Ella Scott Lynch), Danny (Nicholas Denton), and Alex (Max McKenna) are all coming home. There is tension because it is not good timing for many reasons. For some, it is their first time home from London. For others, they just got dumped, and others are just acting odd. But as all the usual family tensions arrive, the heat, the dryness, and the breeze bring the threat of bushfires to every rural location.

One thing I think the film nailed was the family dynamics of when you all come together after being apart for a while. You have people keeping secrets to save everyone from embarrassment. You have parents refusing to read the room, even when the thing is painfully apparent to everyone else. You have siblings quietly ribbing each other in a personal and hilarious way. Awkward in-laws are making small talk over dinner while people fight over how to use technology. The layers of history are found in every corner of a house. Some moments are so deeply personal that you know came from a real place.

There is capturing a mood, and then there is injecting a tense situation with a crisis, and that is what happens when a bushfire sweeps through, oh a bushfire and a problematic egg sandwich. There is the humorous tension of everyone’s planes getting through a sunder and being forced into even more uncomfortable close quarters. However, if you are watching from Australia, you know just how much of a threat bushfires can be, and there is a real layer of tension at every part of the proceedings that you can feel viscerally.

As we continue, every part of the film escalates both the family dilemmas and the situation with the weather. It is both super ephemeral and deeply personal, and because of the juxtaposition, the emotion lands really strong. You will probably feel where many of the storylines will end, and you will likely be correct. It is all a bit too neat, but you kind of expect that in a film that works within this genre. The sets all feel authentic, and lived in, which you need in a family film. Also, the cast is completely leaning into the genre, which just works.

In the end, do we recommend Jones Family Christmas? Yes, we would. I am not sure that this will change anyone’s world. However, it was a fun, delightful romp that hit with the emotions when it needed to. If you liked Jones Family Christmas, we would recommend A Sunburnt Christmas.

By Brian MacNamara: You can follow Brian on Twitter Here, when he’s not chatting about Movies and TV, he’ll be talking about International Relations, or the Solar System.

Have you watched Jones Family Christmas?, let us know what you thought in the comments below, feel free to share this review on any of the social medias and you can follow us Here. Check out all our past reviews and articles Here, and have a happy day. 


Credits – All images were created by the cast, crew, and production companies of Jones Family Christmas
Directed by – Stef Smith
Written by – Tegan Higginbotham
Music by – Jonny Higgins
Cinematography by – Grégoire Lière
Edited by – Lily Davis
Production/Distribution Companies – 2 Jon, Mind Blowing World, Scribble Films, VicScreen & Stan
Starring – Heather Mitchell, Ella Scott Lynch, Max McKenna, Neil Melville, Nicholas Denton, Dushan Philips, Anay Gadre, Genevieve Morris, Tahlee Fereday, Tegan Higginbotham & Jimmy Rees with Fiona Choi, Michael Logo, Marg Downey, Tanya Hennessy, Akhilesh Jain, Bev Killick, Tiana Ganatra, Kym Lynch & Roxanne Handel
Rating – Australia: M;