While the film tends to gets off pacing a bit, I was entertained by “Lost at Christmas”. And it was good to watch something different, especially a holiday film from the other side of the world.
TITLE: Lost at Christmas
FILM RELEASE: 2020
DURATION: 1 Hr. and 40 Minutes
Directed by Ryan Hendrick
Written by Ryan Hendrick, Clare Sheppard
Produced by David Newman
Associate Producer: Simon Laidlaw, Brian May
Executive Producer: Ryan Henrick, Graham Reid, Stephen Wright
Music by Stephen Wright
Cinematography by John Rhodes
Edited by Ryan Hendrick
Art Direction by Alicia Hendrick
Costume Design by Angela Giblin
Starring:
Kenny Boyle as Rob
Natalie Clark as Jen
Sylvester McCoy as Ernie
Clare Grogan as Anna
Sanjeev Kohli as Sid
Frazer Hines as Frank
Caitlin Blackwood as Clara
Nicolette McKeown as Nicki
Giga Gray as Clare
Two strangers stranded in the Scottish Highlands on Christmas Eve team up to try and get home in time for Christmas.
Back in 2020, filmmaker Ryan Hendrick (“Perfect Strangers”, “Sundown”) directed and co-wrote alongside Clare Sheppard (“Perfect Strangers”) saw the release of their holiday film “Lost at Christmas”.
Based on Hendrick and Sheppard’s short “Perfect Strangers”, the film was released in cinemas and online in December 2020.
The film has the distinction of being Scotland’s first independent feature-length Christmas movie and stars Natalie Clark, Kenny Boyle, Sylvester McCoy, Clare Grogan, Sanjeev Kohli, Frazer Hines and Caitlin Blackwood.
The film revolves around Jen (portrayed by Natalie Clark) going to see her boyfriend at his home for Christmas. He often spends time with her at his vacation home for the past five years but when she travels to his place to surprise him, she finds out that her “boyfriend” is actually a married man with a kid.
Upset and dejected, Jen’s Christmas appears to be ruined.
The other person featured is Rob (portrayed by Kenny Boyle) who is spending time with his girlfriend and when he proposes to her for marriage again, years later because both were not ready but this time, she tells him that while she loves him, she’s not in love with him and leaves him.
Heartbroken, both Jen and Rob meet each other at the station to go home but because it’s Christmas Eve, both are stuck with no way to get home. Needing to team up in order to get home, Jen ends up with an idea of getting a vehicle to go home, but what she doesn’t tell Bob is that she stole the vehicle from the jerk that broke her heart.
So, while the two start traveling, Rob eventually finds out from Jen that she stole the car and gets freaked out that he may be riding home with a crazy woman.
But eventually, the car stops running in the middle of nowhere and both Rob and Jen walk across the snow and finds a holiday hotel with other people who want to get away from Christmas.
With no way to get back home because of the holidays, both decide they must rent a room at the nearest hotel and stay together for the holidays and make the best of it.
If you have watched a holiday film, “Lost at Christmas” may seem a bit banal. While one can predict how this film would end, but just wondering how these two individuals can mend their broken hearts during the Christmas holidays.
I think for sci-fi fans, many will be surprised of the talent from “Dr. Who” who appear in this film such as actor Sylvester McCoy (who played the seventh Doctor) as Ernie, Frazer Hines who played Jamie McCrimmon in “Doctor Who”, young actress Caitlin Blackwood (who played young Amy Pond in “Doctor Who”) and you also have singer Clare Grogan who played Kristine Kochanski in “Red Dwarf” and you have Sanjeev Kohli who hosts his own TV talk show “Sanjeev Kohli’s Big Talk”.
If anything, I found this holiday film to be interesting because it’s the first time coming across a Scottish Christmas film but also one that delves into the a storyline of people spending the holiday’s together after some major heartbreak (and this goes beyond the two main characters). But it’s also an ending that is nothing like the usual romantic holiday film endings.
While the film tends to gets off pacing a bit, I was entertained by “Lost at Christmas”. And it was good to watch something different, especially a holiday film from the other side of the world.
