Story
In this modern retelling of Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, Eshaan Sood (Kunal Nayyar) is the new Scrooge. He’s a miserable, mean and nasty man who has made a fortune in his business with his partner Marley, now deceased, but is unwilling to share it with anyone.
When Sood’s staff have an office party on Christmas Eve, he sacks them all, apart from the faithful Bob Cratchit (Leo Suter). After this, Sood is visited by the ghost of Marley (Hugh Bonneville). He tells Sood that 3 ghosts will visit him that night.
The first is the ghost of Christmas Past (Eva Longuria), a member of a Mariachi band (representing the Day of the Dead), who takes Sood back to his childhood in Uganda.
When he was a young boy, Sood and his family had to leave Uganda when Idi Amin evicted all Asians from the country. Indian families who worked for the British Government were evacuated to the UK. There, Sood’s family faced hostility, and young Sood was beaten by thugs. He grew up and met a young Indian girl, Bea (Charithra Chandran), whose father refused Sood’s offer of marriage because Sood had no money. Sood was determined to win his girl and worked hard and ruthlessly to earn his fortune. Bea’s parents were happy with Sood, but she refused him. As a result, Sood became embittered and miserly.
The ghost of Christmas Present (Billy Porter), a singer in a rap band, shows Sood how poor Bob Cratchit and his family are spending Christmas. Young Tim Cratchit has a fatal illness that causes him pain and suffering.
The story continues with its well-known plot, which sees Sood become a kinder and more compassionate person.
Themes
Racial prejudice; Christmas; refugees; integration; religious tolerance; terminal illness of a child
Violence
Christmas Karma has some violence. For example:
- A drunk man is aggressive to Sood.
- There’s a reference to evacuees being beaten, robbed and killed on their way to the airport.
- Protestors shout at the refugees and tell them they’re not wanted.
- Thugs beat up young Sood because he’s Indian.
- Sood gets angry with the Ghost of Christmas Past and tries to shake her.
Sexual references
Christmas Karma has some sexual references. For example:
- There’s a light romance between Sood and Bea.
- A man says that it’s so cold he can’t keep his chestnuts warm and asks someone else to warm up his baubles for him.
Alcohol, drugs and other substances
Christmas Karma shows some use of substances. For example:
- Many people drink alcohol, including at home, at parties and in the office.
- A man is so drunk that he throws up.
Nudity and sexual activity
There’s no nudity and sexual activity in Christmas Karma.
Product placement
There’s no product placement in Christmas Karma.
Coarse language
Christmas Karma has some coarse language and name-calling, including ‘for God’s sake’, ‘blimey’, ‘hell’, ‘bloody’, ‘crap’, ‘stupid fool’ and ‘tight-fisted stingy miser’.
Ideas to discuss with your children
Christmas Karma is a mixture of a Bollywood musical and a British dramedy, based on Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. The movie has a lot of positive messages about welcoming refugees as well as forgiveness and redemption.
The ghost stories in Christmas Karma are quite scary, and there are some intense scenes featuring young Tim Cratchit. This means that movie is unsuitable for children aged under 11 years and best suited to viewers aged over 12 years.
The main messages from Christmas Karma are to try to understand other people and to accept all people regardless of background.
Values in Christmas Karma that you could reinforce with your children include tolerance, forgiveness, redemption, empathy, charity, gratitude, acceptance, and respect for religious and cultural diversity.
Christmas Karma could also give you the chance to talk with children about real-life issues and questions like these:
- How does Eshaan Sood become a miserable and mean person? What enables him to change and redeem himself?
- Why is meanness ultimately unrewarding? Why does charitableness bring happiness?