Nowadays, rarely do we get a romantic comedy film that perfectly satisfies the hopeless romantic in us. We often miss the 1990s and early 2000s, the year that our classic favorites came out such as Pretty Woman (1990), Clueless (1995), 10 Things I Hate About You (1999), Love Actually (2003), 13 Going on 30 (2004), and 27 Dresses (2008) to name a few.
So when the trailer for Last Christmas came out, a holiday-themed romcom movie featuring Emilia Clarke (Game of Thrones) and Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians), it certainly piqued our interest! Here’s the High Five (non-spoilery) things we loved about the film.
The chemistry of the two leads
It follows a downtrodden and cynical Christmas store worker, Kate, played by the perky Emilia Clarke who meets a mysterious overly optimistic Tom, played by the charming Henry Golding.
The two showed surprising chemistry in the short time they were together. Also, we appreciate Henry Golding even more!! The-Crazy Rich Asian guy, once again proved how competent he is as a leading man (He’s a very natural charmer) and Emilia Clarke is always a delight to see on the big screen as she is on television.
Kate’s family
The movie opens with Kate just moving out from her parents’ house, moving from house to house as she keeps getting kicked out due to her selfish behavior. After her illness, her relationship with her mother and sister has been rocky but as the movie unfolds, we slowly see the family confront each other and address the underlying reasons for their pent-up feelings, repairing the damage of past events. Watching the unconventional family navigating acceptance and forgiving was so heart-warming.
The laughs
The movie is a romcom after all and the comedy part did deliver. While Kate and Tom made us swoon with their cute and romantic escapades, Kate’s mom, Petra, played by brilliant Emma Thompson made us laugh with her hilarious bluntness and her sad opera lullaby-slash-Christmas song. Her coddling ways and carefree demeanor made her character very lovable!
The movie brought light to relevant issues
In the movie, Kate’s parents are immigrants from Yugoslavian who migrated to the United Kingdom to escape the war and raise their kids. A scene in the film showed a rude British shout at two Yugoslavian immigrants who were conversing in their local language, telling them to speak English or leave the country. Kate talks to them afterwards in their language and tells them that they are welcome in the country. It was a nice heart-warming message to the many immigrants now residing in the U.K. and as it addresses a very relevant problem nowadays with hate crime rising significantly in the country after Brexit.
“Look up!”
Tom’s catchphrase “look up” was perfect for Kate’s negative and cynical outlook. It reminds us that sometimes we can get too engrossed in our own problems and become self-centered in the process. People say that in order to heal we must learn to acknowledge pain, but we’re all like Kate in many ways. We tend to distract ourselves by seeking temporary aid when life becomes too unbearable for us. But, it’s amazing how we still manage to survive and pull ourselves together. We just gotta “look up” and see what’s in front of us to get us out of our own heads and, yes, sometimes we may need help from others to do this so don’t be afraid to let others help you.
While the ending may be disappointing for some and political discussions could have been further discussed, it was still a feel-good film that will leave you with a nice cozy feeling upon leaving the cinema. The movie gave a beautiful perspective to what forgiving, healing and loving means. In closing, our personal take away from this film would be the reality that life may throw us everything all at once—and we may have the reasons to give up, but there’s always hope. So, hey, look up!
Overall 4 out of 5 waves for us!
Last Christmas is now showing in cinemas nationwide! Watch the trailer below: