Review: The magic of ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’

Imagine you had never heard or read the Christmas story — the birth of the Savior of the world. The king of kings, born in a manger, for the rich and the poor, the lowly and the elite, the princes and the paupers. For many millions, including myself, this event has a singular importance in human history and also on a personal level.
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is a movie that made me laugh and made me cry, but perhaps most surprisingly, it brought me to a place where I thought about what it would be like if I had never heard the Christmas story. And then it was like I heard it for the first time and really understood the message — Jesus was born for us all.
But the film wasn’t preachy or overbearing. It’s not a message movie, where the technical aspects are secondary. It’s a funny film with interesting aesthetics and great acting, and it’s universally heartwarming.
Dallas Jenkins directed it (after many years of chasing down the rights to it). He’s known for the TV series “The Chosen,” and you can see some of that sensibility brought to this movie — the characters are humanized and there’s a real focus on Jesus as the savior for the broken. But he shows some new tricks that elevate this particular film.
The film is based on Barbara Robinson’s book of the same name. It’s truly a Christmas classic — though it’s a thin novel, bringing it to life was a tall order. Given my fondness for the source material, I expected to appreciate the movie. But I didn’t expect it to touch my heart in ways that only a few movies ever have.
For those who may not know the basic plot, it’s about a group of kids who grew up on the wrong side of the tracks: the Herdman kids. In the town where they live, the Christmas pageant means a lot. It’s on the news and it’s a tradition of many decades. The Herdman’s hijack the pageant, to the disapproval of the townspeople. But something incredible happens next.
The movie’s narrator is a girl named Beth. She’s looking back at a series of memories — what happened when her mother took charge of the town’s Christmas pageant. She’s unable to stop the Herdmans from snagging the biggest roles in the pageant and other women in town make no secret of their belief that she should have done so.
Now to talk a little bit more about how the movie created a profound emotional impact on me (but without spoilers), I’ll point to a couple examples. At one point, Beth’s dad Bob brings the whole family along to drop off a ham at the Herdman’s. Their mother isn’t home, which is a common scenario. This ham later becomes a key point that shows something special about the Herdman kids.
Then there’s also a comment Imogene makes about how she cared for her younger sister Gladys — it’s an eye opening moment, but again, no spoilers as to what the comment is.
Right off the bat, there are a couple noteworthy things about the movie. First, let’s talk aesthetics.
This is a Christmas movie that transcends time, in large part due to the aesthetics. If you look closely at the costumes and the props, you can find trends from multiple eras. Based on aesthetics alone, it’s hard to guess what era you’re in. There’s a car that looks like it’s from the 1970s and Beth’s house still has a radiator. The TV doesn’t look like one that’s been used since the turn of the century. The convenience store looks like it’s from an earlier era, too. Some of the costume choices feel closer to the 1990s. There are still metal trash cans.
It seems to be deliberate — and it works well.
In part, it works because of something subtle at the beginning of the movie. At the onset, you see a series of paintings that you’ll later recognize as scenes from the movie. This is where the Norman Rockwell influence is perhaps most pronounced — they feel like iconic Rockwell paintings. This subtle beginning sets the tone that you should expect a timeless, classic aesthetic.
Shot in Canada, the town setting itself feels vintage and, again, Christmasy. The church’s exterior juxtaposed with the snow and the interior with the majestic stained glass window creates a sense of warmth, as does the lighting in the church itself. It’s almost “Polar Express”-like in the way the lighting feels.
Next let’s go to the overall structure of the movie. Within the first few minutes of the movie, you’ll probably be left thinking the Herdman’s are the worst. Not only does Beth say that, but you see a bunch of different examples. This puts you in the shoes of Beth and also in the shoes of the townspeople, but you don’t stay there for the entire movie — and that’s brilliant.
Beth acts as your guide in some ways, but so does Grace.
Grace, played by Judy Greer, and Imogene, played by Beatrice Schneider, are probably the most compelling characters in the film. Like her name suggests, Grace is more willing to give some grace than other characters. Her realization about the Herdman’s becomes your realization about them, too. And then you see a lot of layers to Imogene. Yes, she’s a rascal. But she also cares deeply about her siblings and has to be more than just a kid for them.
But the last thing to discuss is whether or not this is a Christmas movie that will be a blip or if it could possibly live on for a while.
I think about the Christmas movies that have been mainstays: “It’s a Wonderful Life,” “How the Grinch Stole Christmas,” “A Christmas Carol,” and several others. There’s always something universal about these movies — something that latches onto our hearts and maybe inspires us to lift someone else up.
If nothing else, that’s what “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” did for me.
“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” will be released in theaters on Nov. 8.