A Boy Called Christmas has intrigued me since it was announced that Netflix was releasing it. With some pretty big names attached to it, I knew this movie would either be amazing or awful. Which is it?

Three children - Andrea (Isabella O’Sullivan), Patrick (Eden Lawrence), and Moppet (Ayomide Garrick) - complain because their Aunt Ruth (Maggie Smith) is coming to watch them while their father (Joel Fry) goes to work. Little did they know that Aunt Ruth tells the best stories. Tonight’s story is about a boy named Nikolas (Henry Lawfull) and his adventures in the Far North.

Man, I want Maggie Smith to tell me bedtime stories. How awesome would that be?

Anyway, A Boy Called Christmas was such a good movie. Sure, it’s a Santa Claus/Christmas origin story, which is nothing new. However, the casting people made all the right decisions. From the aforementioned Maggie Smith (who will never be a terrible actor) down to Steven Fry as the voice for Mika the mouse. Every person is absolutely perfect for their role.

If I wanted to compare this movie to anything, I would compare it to The Princess Bride. They both begin as an older family member telling stories to the younger generation. They both have sections where you think the main character is going to fail at their mission. Yet, at the end, they both triumph and make their respective worlds better. There is no big romance story in A Boy Called Christmas. Nikolas is wide-eyed and open-hearted. He doesn’t even wish ill on the people that want to hurt him. Where The Princess Bride wants to kill the antagonist, A Boy Called Christmas wants to win them over with love and kindness.

This is definitely a movie that everyone should watch. I can easily see this becoming a new Christmas classic. Or at least a movie that you show to your children every year, until they are too old for the story of Santa. But even then they will secretly want to watch it. It is just that good.