This Is Christmas

The people who commute into London on the same train every morning have been seeing each other for years without speaking. Adam decides to break that: he invites everyone in the carriage to a Christmas party. Emma thinks the idea is ridiculous and gets involved anyway. Chris Foggin directs. Alfred Enoch plays Adam and Kaya Scodelario plays Emma. It is a Sky production. The premise is not original but it is concrete: British commuting really is this, the same time, the same carriage, the same faces, and no communication at all. The screenplay builds everything on that single observation. Foggin had worked the same vein before with Fisherman's Friends: small community, warm tone, minimal conflict. The approach here is identical, and the film takes no risk anywhere. The crowded cast is used well. Every passenger carries a short subplot, and a few of them are better than the main one. Who it is for: anyone wanting something familiar and comforting in Christmas film season. Who it is not for: viewers tired of the genre's shape. It takes every expected step in the expected order, and the ending is clear within ten minutes.