Free Rein: The Twelve Neighs of Christmas

Christmas is being prepared at Bright Fields. The mistletoe ball is coming and everyone has a job. Zoe breaks one of the ornaments and an old piece of paper falls out of it; the paper leads to a story the family did not know. Gaby is dealing with a matter of her own at the same time. The horses are in the stables, the snow is outside and the day of the ball is close. The children try both to save the ball and to follow where that paper goes. Marek Losey directs. Jaylen Barron, Manpreet Bambra, Kerry Ingram and Celine Buckens are in the cast. It is a British production. The film was made as the Christmas special of the series of the same name and shot with the series cast. The narrative is written for people who watch the series; the characters and relationships are already in place. The matter it treats is a family secret; the paper that is found is a small door onto the past. The film shows riding and stable life in detail. The narrative keeps the conflict soft and nobody is really in danger. The locations are rural and the winter photography is the strongest thing in it. The narrative runs at the scale of a young adult series and surprises little. The ending keeps the holiday bargain. Its limit is independence; the narrative does not stand apart from the series and says little to a viewer arriving from outside. Who it is for: horse lovers, families looking for something to watch together, and followers of the series. Who it is not for: it is light, predictable, and the ending is what you expect.