Far From Home
One of the worst parts of Christmas comes from just how much emphasis we place on gifts and “stuff”. As someone who unashamedly spent the better part of a week trying to bag a Playstation 5, it’s easy to get caught up in the rat race of bringing home shiny new toys. This, of course, translates across to our kids too who receive a litany of adverts either on TV or YouTube with the latest gift or toy to play with – and that’s before mentioning those infamous unboxing videos. Sometimes it can be easy to forget about what really matters at Christmas. And that’s where Alien Xmas comes into the fold. With a simple but effective narrative about the joy of giving rather than taking, Alien Xmas is a wonderful animated film perfect for kids and families alike. The stop-motion is brilliantly done too and while it doesn’t quite hit the heights something like Kubo and the Two Strings manages to achieve in this medium, it’s a wonderful heartwarming story nonetheless. At the heart of this story lies an alien race known as the Klepts. Devoid of colour, young X remains determined to become accepted by his much bigger peers and heads down to the North Pole on command of the Klept Queen to turn on a gravity-altering gyrotron and collect up all the “stuff”. With the Klepts driven to steal and consume “stuff”, they send X down to the middle of Christmastown to turn on this device and snatch up all the presents. This is X’s big chance and he’s determined not to mess it up. What X finds however, is the joy of Christmas and something much more satisfying than stealing everything in sight. There’s elements of The Grinch in here, mixed in with a bit of Nightmare Before Christmas, topped off with a large dollop of extraterrestrial goodness. This Christmas tale wonderfully showcases the power of teamwork and togetherness, delivering an enthralling and charming animated title that’s perfect for kids and families alike.
