This charming, sweet and emotional Nordic Netflix festive drama follows a young boy, Julian, who at Christmas is suffering with the recent death of his older sister and its effect on family and friends, as he encounters a strangely upbeat and chirpy young girl, Hedwig, who helps him to reconnect in the week leading up to Christmas Day. Every step of the script and on-screen presentation is designed to the limit to tug at the heartstrings, from the cute-children casting to the gorgeously melancholic score and the snowy Norwegian Christmas-sensory-overload moments, all of which make the film work beautifully, filtering the world, feelings and experiences through the eyes of the children. The two young leads play their characters delightfully, especially Mudip Gupta as Julian giving an exceptional child performance. Told with a simple and beautiful clarity, the heavyweight theme of (childhood) bereavement is handled with great sensitivity and, ultimately, hope for the future, in what is quite simply a beautiful jewel of a film.
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