As I’m wrapping up the last few Christmas movies from 2021, there are a few foreign films left to watch. Grumpy Christmas (also known as Una Navidad No Tan Padre) is the first of two Spanish movies on my list.

Servando (Héctor Bonilla) is spending Christmas at the beach with his family. His son, Fran (Benny Ibarra); his wife, Alma (Jacqueline Bracamontes); and the ragtag group of people they live with are spending the holidays at the house of Alma’s aunt, Alicia (Angélica María). The old man believes they should celebrate Christmas one way but Alicia doesn’t want him telling her what to do in her house. Meanwhile, Fran and Alma are arguing over Fran’s tendency to overwork and ignore his family. Can this Christmas be saved?

I have seen quite a few people complaining about Grumpy Christmas. Perhaps they were expecting something more “American” with slapstick gags and laugh tracks. Instead, what we get are two old people so set in their ways that they go out of their way to try to annoy the other. At least that is what we think we get. In reality, the elders are afraid of dying and wasting what precious time they have left. I’m glad there is no slapstick.

While the movie mostly focuses on Servando and Alicia, we do have two other couples having trouble. There’s Fran and Alma, who thankfully are actually doing couples therapy in order to attempt to work on their relationship. Unfortunately, the therapy isn’t helping them much. On the other hand, we have Gala (Renata Notni) and Renato (Juan Pablo de Santiago) who are secretly sleeping together. Renato professes his love to Gala, which she rejects since living in the communal house makes them “family.” Of course, all of this is resolved by the end.

I found Grumpy Christmas to be a nice change of pace from all of the other Christmas movies I’ve sat through. Even though I’m sure it’s not the norm, a lot of the foreign language Christmas movies on Netflix do revolve more around family dynamics than will-they-won’t-they scenarios. Don’t get me wrong, I enjoy a good romance movie. But most Christmas romance movies aren’t good. This was a nice palate cleanser.