Ahh, the Christmas movie. Besides decorations, carols and lots of food, settling down on the couch for a feel-good Christmas movie is one of the greatest joys of the festive season. While most of us have grown up with Xmas viewing staples such as Love Actually, The Grinch and Home Alone, we're seeing a new wave of films pop up each December, largely thanks to the streaming giants.
This year, Netflix's new addition, Christmas As Usual has managed to delve into all of the long-standing Christmas traditions we love, while also exploring family dynamics, relationships and festive fun in a modern, multicultural world.
As multiculturalism finally takes a proper hold of society, with second-generation immigrants no longer a minority, the concept of ‘blended’ and ‘inter-racial’ families has become the norm.
Christmas As Usual is a must-watch showcasing the struggle many still go through as cultures clash as Jeshan and Thea celebrate Christmas with her family in Norway after getting engaged, however find that his Indian roots and her Norwegian traditions clash.
Throughout the movie, we see Jeshan constantly deal with his name being bastardised with the name of a certain Marvel superhero until he finally snaps after having several shots, something a lot of us deal with on a daily basis.
Thea is constantly trying to look out for Jeshan while still attempting to show her family that she is Norwegian at heart and has not changed, which is something both sides struggle with throughout as Jeshan does his best to take part in Norwegian traditions whilst still not losing his inherent Indian identity.
This is a struggle for many interracial couples where the partner accepts and jumps headfirst into the beauties of the traditions whilst the family struggles to still accept this interloper. It’s summed up beautifully when Jeshan tells Thea that it would have been extremely hard with his family for her.
The movie however does showcase the beauty in the end, with Thea’s family accepting of Jeshan and even incorporating South Asian traditional outfits into their own Norwegian Christmas outfits. And on that celebratory note, I'm not going to give anything else away. Happy Xmas viewing.