Toast & Kent's XMas (2025) Advent Calendar: Day 6 - Jingle Bell Heist

2025, Michael Fimognari (The Fall of the House of Usher) -- Netflix

Two not-Hallmarkies in a row? Yeah yeah, boo on me.

This one was actually unexpected. Sorry, its not like I turned it on by accident, but I assumed I was just watching another British movie with an American lead (see previous movie) which was to be a "Christmas Caper". That's a thing, right? I mean, technically, you might call Die Hard, a "Christmas Caper" movie? Anyway, I like me a good caper (as I am a Caper) and since our household is still firmly footed in British Land (watching a lot of panel shows) I suggested this. But yes, as I was saying, it wasn't just another Christmas Caper movie. So, be warned, to tell you how it wasn't, I will spoil the jingle bells out of it.

And yes, we will get back to proper Hallmarkies.

Sophia (Olvia Holt, Cloak & Dagger) is an American working at Sterlings, one of those mega-department stores you see in British movies, apparently only catering to high end clientele and pretending its the 1950s, the height of pretty young things catering to the whims of rich assholes. She's also a pick pocket with a heart of gold, as the "angry man yelling at buskers" establishing scene exhibits. And she uses any opportunity to pocket cash at the store, one time which gets her caught on security camera, which Nick (Connor Swindells, Rogue Heroes) happens to be spying in on. Nick's also a thief?

But doubling-down on the "heart of gold" thing, we find Sophia is just stealing money to pay for her mother's extended needs during cancer treatment. They did move to the UK for free health care, after they exhausted all their funds in the US, but every little bit counts. Especially when a doctor offers her entry in a trial study that could see her mom improving drastically, but its part of the two-tier system where people with money can jump queues. They don't barely have enough money.

Nick tries to blackmail Sophia into stealing stuff from the store's special vault, and while she initially refuses, the trial costs convinces her otherwise. Enter caper one, and the first time my expectations were tossed aside. I kind of thought the movie was moving along rather quickly, and when she goes to do the actual stealing, its... all gone. Sterling (Peter Serafinowicz, Shaun of the Dead) himself, the family named boss of the store, has reported it all stolen.

So, Sophia suggests robbing Sterling directly. He always keeps tons of cash in his personal safe. She knows this from eavesdropping. She scouts out the office, finds a hidden walk-in safe behind a bookshelf and brings the knowledge to Nick, who as we saw in the "spying on her" bit, works in security but we also learn, is down on his luck after spending two years in jail for theft. He has an ex, a daughter and a roommate who spends all day playing video games and wants in on whatever caper Nick has coming up. Nick denies everything. But he does need cash to further his relationship with his daughter, as currently repairing laptops barely covers his expenses let alone child payments. Nick knows how those safes work, key fobs with security codes. Caper two! Get the fob!

Yeah, this was the hijinx caper, one where they know they have to get into his house and the only way they come up with is "seduce his wife". How is it in these movies, when they dress the shabby young man up in a tux, they never consider him actually shaving off his perpetual three-day-scrub? No matter, if goes miserably but... the wife (Lucy Punch, Motherland) is onto them anyway. Buuuut she's into it, the stealing from her husband, whom she loathes but also wants his fortune, not into Nick seducing her. Caper three! Armed with the fob, rob his store safe!

Oh, I should mention that by this point, we have found out Nick isn't even a thief. He was actually framed by Sterling himself who had Nick build some security for him, only to use it as a manner for Sterling to steal his own goods and get the insurance money. This was turnaround for a main character, and the other... well, I should have seen it coming, but I barely put it together before it was revealed. You see, Sterling is her dad. She is his illegitimate daughter. Sterling denied her existence and it drove her mother to the US. When DNA is required to get into the safe, its hers they use. BUT THAT'S NOT ALL ! They aren't even stealing from Sterling, but putting back a ton of the shit he stole in previous events, including the goods from two years prior when he framed Nick. This caper, as designed by the wife, is to put all the goods back into the safe, call in a robbery (in cute winter themed balaclavas at that) and get the evil man arrested, after which the wife will set them up for life.

So yeah, a fun little caper-ish movie that plays with expectations, still squarely runs in romcom land and is all set during the Xmas season, so while it doesn't adhere to any really strong holiday tropes, the coming Xmas days and packed department stores play important parts in the story. Nick and Sophia seem like an unlikely pair, but that works out better for Hallmarkie style romcom-y land.

Yeah, I liked it.