This is the first time I have included an international movie in the annual Christmas reviews. Just Another Christmas (originally titled Tudo Bem No Natal Que Vem) is a Netflix original movie from Brazil. I almost passed on it. I am so glad I didn’t.

Jorge (Leandro Hassum) was born on December 25. As a result, he hates Christmas. After a particularly terrible Christmas with his in-laws, he is cursed by his grandfather-in-law to learn about the true meaning of the holiday. When he wakes up the next morning, an entire year has gone by and it is once again Christmas day. He can’t remember anything that happened during the year, only what happens on Christmas day. Over the next couple of decades of only experiencing Christmas day, Jorge learns how much his family means to him.

When I first turned on Just Another Christmas, I didn’t realize it was a foreign film. Since my list of movies to review this year is so long, I debated skipping it. Instead, I flipped it to the original Portuguese language, popped on the subtitles, and got ready for what I thought was a comedy. It wasn’t supposed to make me cry!

Throughout the movie, we are shown one day - Christmas - for every year of Jorge’s life. Much like Jorge, we don’t know what happens during the year. He has to turn to his wife, Laura (Elisa Pinheiro), to tell him what has gone on in his life and what kind of man he is. Unfortunately, he makes some terrible decisions in the missing time but seeing the results through everyone else’s eyes is heart-wrenching.

I don’t want to give away too much because I really think everyone should watch Just Another Christmas. There are options for Portuguese with English subtitles or English dubbed. It doesn’t matter which way you watch it, as long as you watch it. You’ll definitely want to hug your loved ones afterwards.