T&K's XMas (2023) Advent Calendar: Day 2 - Christmas on Repeat

T&K Go Loopty-Loo: XMas Edition - normally Toasty and I do a "Loopty-loo" as a joint effort, but I'm going to spare him on this one, because he's got his own list of xmassy so-bad-it's-good-ness to get through (and also there's a couple other Christmas Loopty-loos from the covid years still sitting in draft that he needs to get to ;P )

If you were to take this poster at face value
who do you think the married couple would be?
That's right, it's the lady in red, and the guy
in plaid in the background, ya racist.

2022, d. Lindsay Hartley

How did the Loop Begin?
Andrea (Jennifer Taylor, Two and a Half Men) tried to have a good Christmas, but she woke up and fell on her face, she tried making pancakes but set the smoke alarm off, the neighbourhood kids knock into her playing basketball, she was late to a last-minute ad shoot that had the director and the influencer star both quit, she twisted her ankle doing a dance for TipTop with her daughter, and all her Christmas gifts were very poorly received. She's taking the trash out when she wishes she could do that day over again when (just as grocery store Santa predicted) a shooting start zooms by. Her wish be granted.

What was the main character's first reaction to the Loop?
At first Andrea was sensing that everything was just a little too similar to the day before but when she was at the commercial shoot, when the director informed her it was Christmas Day again, she fainted. And from there she was just kind of stunned and overwhelmed.

WHY did the main character get put into the Loop? Can someone else be brought into the Loop?
Grocery store Santa (and I should use "grocery store" in quotes because it's a nasty looking building, hastily painted white, with even hastier Christmas decorations slapped up, with no windows and two solid doors with regular turn-knob handles that, at best, make you think it's a shut down sex shoppe ), when Andrea visited him again (I think in the third loop) tells her that she needs to figure out what it is she really wants and that is what will get her out of the loop. 

Would you go buy your groceries here? It's like it only sells end-of-days 
bunker survival food.  And the "snow" is clearly melting rapidly.

You would think that, by the way her husband behaves, that he was in the loop too, because on Christmas Eve he was still huggy and loving and affectionate and supportive to his wife, but by the very last loop, he's telling Andrea that they need to separate because she works too much and he's lonely.

How long is this time Loop? What resets it? Can you force the reset?
The loop starts on Christmas Day when Andrea wakes up to the sound of neighbour kids playing basketball. It ends when she goes to sleep. There's really no testing of this time loops' limits. On one bad loop, she just takes a heavy dose of Nyquill and goes to sleep.

How long does the main character stay in the Loop? Does it have any affect on them, their personality, their outlook?
I counted three time loops before the montage kicked in of Andrea trying to gain some semblance of control over the day's events, at which point I counted at least 7 more time loops. She's trying her best to make pancakes, to get rid of the crappy presents, to make the ad shoot go well, to learn the TipTop dance, to just have a happier day, but by the end of the montage, she looks defeated.  It's not until she skips out on work and just spends the day with her family that she feels happier, more confident, more fulfilled. And from there she starts to learn about her children's problems and desires, likes and dislikes, which her new job has taken her away from for the past year.  Turns out what she's really wishing for is a better work life balance.  When she actually achieves that, the loop ends, but it turns out for her husband John, it's too late....

One thing about the loop Andrea never seems to learn though is not to speed through that section of town where she's always getting nabbed by the kinda charming cop. Wouldn't it be nice if this were a time loop romance between Andrea and that guy?

What about the other people in the Loop? Are they aware? Can they become aware?  Does anything happen if they become aware?
Only "grocery store" Santa knows about the loop. Turns out he's a real magical Santa. For real. 

What does the main character think about the other people in the Loop? Are they real? Do they matter?
The other people in the loop are her family, her neighbours, her co-workers, they matter the most to her, and she does everything in her power to try to do better for them. Even her pushy dickhead boss she's trying to give advice on how to negotiate dealing with his in-laws on Christmas ("is he on the phone again!?")

Most memorable event in a Loop? Most surprising event during a Loop?
These loops are pretty banal, all things considered. But the most surprising thing was for the loop to come to a close, with Andrea having brought her daughter to work with her so she could meet the influencer she loves so much, which helps reveal the influencer's problems are a self-confidence thing and are finally resolved, which makes most of the people in this story happy. She sets her kids grandmother (I was never clear on whose mother she was...she's not Andrea's mom, it doesn't seem like she's John's mom... she could be Andrea's dead husband's mom, but her son with John calls her Nana too which I guess is fine?) up with her grumpy neighbour who happens to cheer up when he's invited over for dinner. Her son's confidence issues about not making the basketball team are resolved when she helps him to just go out and play with his friends.  The only thing she can't fix is John, even as she makes pancakes perfectly and gets him a very touching gift of memories of past great times together... John's just like "too little too late, beautiful successful woman, I'm out".

I mean, man, fuck that guy. On Christmas, just before the loop began he says "You know I support you in your career Andy, I always have, I just didn't realize you'd be working this much... it's been lonely."  He talks about how he's behind on work, which makes it sound like his job's not going well, and now he's being a whiny bitch about being left alone too much. He says he wants Andrea to spend her week off together as a family, but after a bunch of time loop shenanigans, when she's absolutely ready to commit to all that, John says he's out? It's over? Because, for only ONE YEAR, he's been lonely.  You know when men are that ready to call it quits, even when the woman is clearly ready to make change, it's because he's got a side piece right?

Andrea says "You helped me chase my dreams, even when I chased them too far..." (What the hell does that mean? ) "...and not because you had to," she continues, "but because it's just who you are." So who he is is a guy who is supportive until he has to sacrifice a little more?

And then she says "without you I don't have any dreams. I don't have anything. I don't care if we go broke. I don't care if we have to sell the house. I don't care if we have to eat ramen for every meal...I will let everything else go if there's even a chance that I can hold onto you." Great speech, but holy shit, this guy has emotionally manipulated this gorgeous successful generally thoughtful and well-intentioned woman into thinking she is the problem. This is unhealthy bullshit. What a selfish, immature, insecure asshole John is, and I'm embarrassed by the speech Andrea gives.

The film gives her her cake and lets her eat it too when her boss calls with the promotion and she effectively tells him what's what, that she's taking vacation and keeping her job, and then the boss says he's starting to like her. Eyeroll.

How does this stack up in the subgenre?
I have to admit that it's not a good movie, that the time loop is such incredibly low stakes that, of course it has to push itself into some incredible crisis for the big finale.  I was into it, though. I found Jennifer Taylor very likeable and held the picture very well, which was enough to carry me through the lazy writing, some bad acting, some horrendous snow placement and the rest of the holiday movie shot in the summer production tropes. The script isn't charmless and it's constructed in a way that everything comes together even if it is in an exceptionally telegraphed, oversimplified manner, but the message of this film, that a woman prospering in business to the detriment of her family is absolutely unacceptable is utter bullshit.  The last 15 minutes ruin both Andrea as a character and whatever was enjoyable about the film.

How does it snow?
Like this:
This is Andrea's side of the street. There's just sheets of batting draped over everything, icicles dangling from the eaves trough, but the trees are lush and green.

And on the other side of the street, not a lick of snow, bright and sunny suburban afternoon