I know I complain about these movie titles a lot. Navigating Christmas sounds like something that should be about travel. But it’s not. I think this was supposed to about emotional navigation but that is really pushing it. Hold on, let me go into more detail.

This is the first Christmas that Melanie (Chelsea Hobbs) and her teenage son Jason (Everett Andres) are spending together since Melanie’s divorce. After Jason gets ditched by his father, Melanie takes them on a vacation to spend Christmas at a lighthouse. When they get there, they find out that they have also signed up to do chores, like preparing the lighthouse for the Christmas festival. Has Melanie ruined Christmas for her son?

OK. So. Navigating Christmas is supposed to be a reference to Melanie helping her son emotionally navigate the holidays without his father. However, she doesn’t really do that. She keeps his father’s “big secret” from him instead of straight up telling him. She doesn’t have a deep conversation about why the divorce happened. Instead, she lets him believe that her “working too much” was the cause. And she does nothing but avoid every emotional hurdle that comes her way. A World Record Christmas did a much better job showing a loving mother helping her child navigate his emotions. This one would have been better titled Avoiding The Rocks or something.

Rating: At least the lighthouse is pretty?