The importance of faith is explored further in 2016’s Wish For Christmas, a film that’s sort of like Home Alone, though instead of wishing for her family to disappear, our teen protagonist Anna (Annaleigh James) wishes away their belief in God. It’s an original idea but is yet another film in the over-saturated, faith-based ‘be careful what you wish for’ genre. In fact, it’s a lot like Santa Jaws but without the aquatic murders. Hmmmm. Makes you think.
Anna is a bit of a spoiled bitch. Her parents Luke (Joey Lawrence) and Elizabeth (Leigh-Allyn Baker) are two pretty cool, successful lawyer types who put a lot of their success down to their firm stance on faith and morals. Mind you, they do have a massive house. Their 17-year-old daughter is one of those awful ‘plastic’ teens who’s always on her phone, plays cruel tricks on the geeky kids and - shock horror! - has the gall to text during prayers.
After her prom dance is unexpectedly moved to Christmas Eve night, mom and dad insist Anna must ditch the dance to go to church. After offending a gruff hobo dressed as Santa, Anna makes a magic wish that turns her parents into completely irresponsible assholes overnight. Now, they let her do whatever she wants but have also somehow transformed into evil lawyers, getting Anna’s boyfriend and his family evicted from their home. Uh oh.
Anna has fun initially, with her mom letting her wear whorish outfits, while dad lets her skip church to go to a “college party”. But she quickly realises this new arrangement sucks - her boyfriend is devastated at his impending homelessness and the boys at the frat party, as is the custom, get a bit ‘handsy’. In the grand old Christmas tradition, Anna recognises that - yes - it’s actually her that needs to change.
It’s easy to read this film’s message about the importance of faith in God as being pretty damn offensive. My gut reaction is that it is deeply uncool to infer that not believing in God turns you instantly into a greedy, callous prick, so I have a bit of a problem with the whole thing. Then again, I also acknowledge that it’s impossible to hold too much ill will towards a movie that is, essentially, trying to teach us all to be better people, albeit very clumsily.
All the main players have solid TV sitcom backgrounds and James gives an especially convincing performance as the hellion who softens as she comes to understand why her parents can sometimes seem harsh - it’s because they want what’s best for you.
I appreciate that the film doesn't magically undo all the crappy things that Anna and her parents did while under the spell, closing on an intriguingly ambiguous note. There’s some vague messaging about even the shitty things that happened being chalked up as being all part of His plan and I guess that concept gives me pause for thought.
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