Now that I have finished all of the usual network Christmas movies, I’ll finish out the year with some from Netflix (and maybe other streaming channels) that I didn’t get to. I’m starting off with I Believe In Santa.

Lisa (Christina Moore) is a writer who hates Christmas. Tom (John Ducey) is a lawyer who loves Christmas so much that he still believes in Santa Claus. After five months of dating, Lisa just found out about Tom’s beliefs. Will they be able to find a way to compromise or is this the end of their relationship?

I want to start off with noting that this is definitely an allegory for Catholicism vs atheism. Yes, they do talk about religion in the movie but the only specific religion they mention is Muslim. Santa is definitely supposed to be a stand-in for big-g God.

With that in mind, I still found it to be a charming movie. There were the usual discussions about faith - how do you prove it if you can’t see it - but it didn’t come off as preachy, the way most faith movies do. I think it’s because there is no “Santa has a plan” type reasonings here. Instead, it’s basically “It’s real if you believe it is real.” Which is a much better reasoning for faith.

While I do think this I Believe In Santa is a movie worth watching, it isn’t the best movie out there. There are a ton of unnecessary montages and the production is a little lacking. But for a movie about religion, I thought it was well handled. And Lisa’s daughter, Ella (Violet McGraw), is a great reason to watch, if you still need one.