‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point’ Movie Review [AFI Fest 2024]: Holiday Vibes Aren’t Enough to Save This Dull Christmas Tale

Photo from IFC Films

From Jeff Nelson

Distinguished Christmas movies feel like something of a miracle, whether they embrace long-held holiday tropes or pursue the unexpected. They aren’t so easy to come by. Tyler Taormina’s Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point is a hangout Christmas film that captures the warm, fuzzy, yet awkward tone of traditional family get-togethers. But, the paper-thin narrative and its flat character roaster fail to captivate.

An Italian American family gathers in their Long Island hometown for a Christmas Eve celebration. The multi-generational family endures a night full of underlying tension and unresolved drama. Meanwhile, one of the teenagers plans to sneak out with their friends across the wintry suburb.

Taormina and Eric Berger’s screenplay doesn’t root its Christmas tropes and traditions within any single perspective, exploring multiple age groups within the family. Ray (Tony Savino), Ronald (Steve Alleva), and Kathleen (Maria Dizzia) are middle-aged siblings, idealizing the Christmas excitement in the younger kids and trying to wrestle with the logistics of their mother’s declining health. Emily (Matilda Fleming) and her cousin, Michelle (Francesca Scorsese), want to escape their family’s clutches for their idea of a good time. For some, it’s just another family reunion but for others, it may be one of their last ones. 

Two local police officers (Gregg Turkington and Michael Cera) aren’t home for Christmas Eve themselves. Rather, they witness some of the events unfolding, occasionally pondering peculiar thoughts intended as comedy. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work.

The characters are translucent veneers of stereotypical personalities, lacking qualities or histories that make them worth following. Taormina and Berger toy with children’s shenanigans, boozy sing-a-longs, and awkward conversations with extended family. Their script explores the evolution of family traditions in detached vignettes that don’t add up to much.

Carson Lund’s nostalgic cinematography and Paris Peterson’s cozy production design make a gorgeous marriage. It has an earthy texture that allows the Christmas lights to pop in nearly every frame. Taormina’s visual style embraces a traditional tone that fully immerses the audience in the holiday spirit.

Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point has the holiday spirit running deep through its bones, but it’s a disengaging hangout movie where only its bare thematics hold any weight. There isn’t much of anything to grasp onto. The cast is a charming ensemble on paper, yet the material sells them short and gives them no opportunity to shine. Taormina traces a familiar Christmas Eve family gathering with an undeniable tenderness. It’s a shame that it feels locked in a cage, just out of reach.

Rating: 2/5

Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point played AFI Fest 2024 on October 25th, 2024. It hits theaters on November 8th, 2024.

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