Our Italian Christmas Memories is the saddest Christmas movie I have ever watched. I tried to think of a way to make the movie end on a happy note and I couldn’t come up with anything that wouldn’t make it sadder. Let me explain.
Anna (Sarah Power) is an adjunct sociology professor. She has taught college classes all over the world. When she finally comes home for Christmas, she finds that her grandfather, Vincent (Beau Bridges) is suffering from dementia. As Anna spends more time with Vincent, she tries to slow his memory loss by trying to figure out her late grandmother’s pasta sauce recipe. She hopes that talking through the family history will help his mental state.
I’m not joking when I say this is the saddest Christmas movie I have ever seen. We watch Vincent’s memory slip from his grasp. He calls Anna by the wrong name, he frequently looks for his late wife, and he even gets lost going on his daily morning walk. While there are other family members, most of the movie is spent with Anna and Vincent. That means we get very little reprieve from the devastating effects dementia has on both the patient and his entire family. It sucks.
Is there something good in Our Italian Christmas Memories? Not really. Anna’s little brother, RJ (Jesse Irving), always feels inadequate even when he is being praised by everyone around him. Her little sister, Ella (Morgana Wyllie), is usually left handling the business of the family farm, which makes her resentful toward Anna as Anna is able to travel all over the world without a care about the family. They all do come back together at the end but the whole movie is about family trauma but on the light setting.
This is another movie where I don’t want to recommend it. It’s so depressing. But if this is something you feel you need to watch, it’s not terrible. Beau Bridges does a beautiful job playing a man who is losing the things that make him who he is. But if you think this is something that will do bad things to your mental health, please don’t watch it. It can be a lot for anyone, especially someone who has had a family member with dementia. Do what you need to do to keep yourself healthy.