Netflix is playing games with me again. They listed The Claus Family as one of their 2021 Christmas movies. While it was added to Netflix on November 1, 2021, it’s actually a 2020 Dutch-Belgian film. You should not lie to me like this, Netflix. I’ll forgive you this time.

Last Christmas Eve, Jules (Mo Bakker) lost is father in an accident. As a result, he now hates Christmas. So when his mother, Suzanne (Bracha van Doesburgh), moves the family to Belgium to be closer to their grandfather (Jan Decleir), Jules is beyond sad. But his grandfather is the current holder of the family secret. Will Jules’s hatred of Christmas ruin the holiday for everyone or will he learn to be jolly again?

I loved The Claus Family. I watched it in the original Finnish language and it was magical. Probably the best Christmas movie I have ever seen.

The good parts: The acting was amazing. There wasn’t one bad piece of acting in the bunch. And that includes two young children. The story was actually intriguing. Every time I thought I knew what was going to happen, something different happened. I think I was expecting something more along the lines of an American comedy but this was more serious. Like a lighthearted drama.

The bad part: Suzanne has a sub-plot revolving around her working in a cookie factory. The factory isn’t doing very well but if they have one big sale, they can save the factory. So Suzanne tries to substitute her colorful Christmas cookies for the company’s boring bland cookies. It ends up with two conflicts - will she get fired and will the factory close. The problem is that none of this matters. It is there only to give Suzanne something to do so Jules can spend time with his grandfather. It has nothing else to do with the main plot. Actually, it seems that Suzanne barely even needs the job. I kept expecting her to quit the factory to start her own cookie company but that doesn’t happen. I would have preferred if they either eliminated the cookie factory plotline or gave it more importance. As it is, it’s just there.

I absolutely think you should watch The Claus Family. I believe there is a sequel coming out this year but I’m not sure if/when it will hit Netflix. It doesn’t matter because this one is good enough for an annual watching on its own. I would gladly watch it again. And I probably will.