I’ll Be Next Door for Christmas (2018. dir. David Jay Willis)

I’m making it clear here from the off because it’s a real Marmite topic: in the first twenty minutes of I’ll Be Next Door for Christmas there is a student improv class. If you like most of Twitter adore dunking on improv, I implore you, turn back now.

Okay now it’s just us Sandy Carols (look, I refuse to not be dunked on but being an improv performer)… the improv is not good. There’s a hilarious use of “yes, and” but that aside I feel a quiet disgruntlement similar to when I watched Bridget Jones’ Diary and thought she was giving Joneses a bad rap. There’s a similar disservice to any impromptu comedy around Nicky’s fake dinner table.

Nicky has set up said fake dinner table, and hired a fake family, all to convince boyfriend Tanner that she’s a normal girl from a normal family- and not the child of the crazed Santa fanatics next door. She’s trying especially hard with the ruse because Tanner’s dad hates the season (the man is so sad) (as in upset, because his wife left), but is constantly sidelined by the fact she’s meant to be operating the VR Santa in her dad’s grotto. I mean WHAT A WACKY RELATIONSHIP, ENVIRONMENT, CONFLICT AND ESCALATION.

Somebody did an excellent paint job on those gardening gloves.

To their credit, the first half of the film is far funnier than expected, but once the farce kicks in the whole affair becomes predictable and turgid. Suddenly there’s far too much reliance on “I need to be in two places at once” tropes (Nicky has to climb out of a window to avoid slamming the front door, she dances a lot to hide her shiftiness? Y’know, the classics). Also, an odd runner about Nicky’s best friend Stephanie being unable to comprehend Christmas because she’s Jewish? I get that she doesn’t celebrate it but I’m sure Stephanie has stepped outside her house in December.

Not to mention her friend is dressed like this on an annual basis?

A plus side to the focus on Nicky’s fake parents is that we’re only in the presence of her real family for short bursts. Watching them is like when you eat a NikNak and you think… do I like this? If you binged purely on them, you would of course feel sick. Similarly, one every ten minutes is also probably pushing it.

Rating: Ho/HoHoHo