A New York Christmas Wedding – Film Review

A New York Christmas Wedding is a very apt title as there literally is a wedding to occur in the film at Christmas, and it would be in New York. However, if those were the only ingredients involved that would result in a very short film and so nothing is quite as simple in A New York Christmas Wedding! With references to A Christmas Carol and It’s A Wonderful Life, A New York Christmas Wedding subverts the romantic comedy genre in providing light social commentary in its tender exploration of modern-day issues within religion and suppressed feelings towards a childhood best friend. A New York Christmas Wedding has featured at the 2020 American Black Film Festival, with its World Premiere, and the New York Latino Film Festival and will also be screening at the Urbanworld Film Festival in September 2020.

The protagonist Jenny, played by Nia Fairweather, however, is provided with that opportunity, whilst preparing for her wedding to her fiancé, played by director-writer-actor Otoja Abit, to step back in time and explore what ‘might have been’ in an alternate reality. A New York Christmas Wedding therefore embraces a unique perspective within that sentimental family Christmas film trope due to the impact of the denied feelings, but this could have been developed further.

Nia Fairweather as Jenny in A New York Christmas Wedding
Nia Fairweather as Jenny in A New York Christmas Wedding

Feel good in nature, A New York Christmas Wedding also explores substantial themes surrounding the meaning of Christmas and love. There are apparent sensations of grief as well as class divisions unravelled throughout Jenny’s wedding preparations. Flashbacks also indicate that such period is a painful one for Jenny and engulfed with memories of the loss of loved ones. However, an overbearing future mother in law, played by Tyra Ferrell, who is amusingly introduced on screen by a hand-held martini glass, presents a different challenge for celebrating a wedding on Christmas as the intention is for it to be the socialite event of the year, which certainly sounds like a nightmarish scenario!

It is therefore unsurprising that Jenny would willingly accept a young stranger’s offer to take a trip down memory lane to re-live happier moments for a brief period of time. A New York Christmas Wedding’s message throughout such journey is that, ‘love is magical at Christmas.’ Indeed, the film does make a tremendous effort to convey this sensation of Christmas magic and that Christmas spirit but is not always entirely successful in its delivery.

The notion of time travel to teach a protagonist a life lesson or to enable them to express emotions fully is not a new theme and as such A New York Christmas Wedding adopts a formulaic storyline in places. What is refreshing is the focus on the community within Jenny’s alternate reality as she is part of the LGBTQ community there with the intention to have her forthcoming nuptials within a church. Admittedly, it is not instantly convincing as to which scenario, past or present, would be the better for Jenny as her fiancée, Gaby, equally seems controlling but is her first love. A New York Christmas Wedding in taking the audience on this journey through time highlights that emphasis placed on soulmates and the possibility of a first, innocent love, developing into that all-consuming, everlasting love.

Abit had intended to subvert the notion of the traditional ‘Hallmark’ Christmas tale by developing the LGBTQ narrative within A New York Christmas Wedding, which is his first feature film. Within Jenny’s alternate reality there is that examination of equality in the choice of wedding venues for celebrating love irrespective of sexual orientation. In such universe, Jenny is preparing to marry a woman at a ceremony officiated by Father Kelly, played by Chris Noth, of Sex and the City fame. The inclusion of such themes also illustrates the challenges faced by the Catholic Church and other denominations with modernisation and the recognition of different sexual orientations and modern-day practices.

Chris Noth as Father Kelly in A New York Christmas Wedding
Chris Noth as Father Kelly in A New York Christmas Wedding

A New York Christmas Wedding does not shirk away from approaching such serious topics concerning the LGBTQ communities however, it is a very light touch approach. Given how much the characters wished to be married within a church as their venue of choice, it seems that the film missed an opportunity to focus fully on the emotional impact of the church’s traditional views and the ongoing individual struggles to petition for more equality to be granted.

It is, however, refreshing to see this departure from the traditional romantic comedy tropes and the redemptive tales of other time travelling Christmas stories. There are a few other substantial themes covered, such as teenage pregnancy, but these felt hurried towards the film’s denouement. Given the prominence of Jenny’s relationship with her childhood friend, Gaby, A New York Christmas Wedding could have devoted more time to her historical backstory, which would have delivered a greater emotional punch.

Nia Fairweather and Adriana DeMeo as Jenny and Gaby in A New York Christmas Wedding
Nia Fairweather and Adriana DeMeo as Jenny and Gaby in A New York Christmas Wedding

As for the mystery surrounding Jenny’s time travelling guardian angel Azreal, it is mentioned, in the voiceover, that Jenny’s story was a personal one to him. However, the reveal of his circumstances felt unsatisfactory and as though it required more depth, despite the emotive elements contained. Therefore the overall message for Jenny, following her time travelling antics, seems rather jumbled. There are also moments where Azreal’s presence felt quite sinister within some striking scenes which evoked a gothic, horror style for the cinematography and it is unclear whether all of his intentions were in Jenny’s favour.

Nia Fairweather certainly carries A New York Christmas Wedding through its emotional highs and lows and is a joy to watch on screen. As Jenny, we can resonate with her confusion and painful emotions when entering the alternate reality not as an observer, as per other films of this genre, but as a participant. Fairweather is extremely expressive in such scenes with such a captivating on screen presence.

A New York Christmas Wedding eschews a lot of the traditional Christmas holiday tropes to provide this fresh take within the genre. Overall, A New York Christmas Wedding avoids being overly sentimental in its delivery and is an enjoyable, thought provoking film. The film encourages us to ‘love deeply, trust your heart and be brave’, which is the ideal message to project at Christmas time. Abit certainly impresses with this debut feature and will be one to watch for future projects.

25 Replies to “A New York Christmas Wedding – Film Review”

    1. Thank you! There will be an opportunity to watch the film as it will be screened on Facebook for free at the Martha’s Vibeyard African American Film Festival, October 6-10

    1. Great, it does sound as though you would enjoy A New York Christmas Wedding. The director mentioned to me that there will be a free screening of the film on Facebook for the Martha Vineyard’s African American Fm Festival, October 6-10. Hope that you might be able to watch it then!

  1. So in the initial timeline she’s going to marry a man but in the time traveling ‘what if’ timeline she going to marry a woman? Does the film explain if she’s bisexual?

    1. Thanks, it doesshow an explanation as the alternate timeliness enables her to unearth her feelings. The director had mentioned that the film will also have a free Facebook screening if interested, at the Martha’s Vineyard’s African American Film Festival, 6-10 October

    2. Just to let you know that A New York Christmas Wedding has been bought by Netflix and so will be available to stream from 5 November

    1. Great, the director had mentioned that there will also be a free Facebook screening of the film at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, Oct 6-10. Hopefully, you might be able to watch it then.

    2. Just to let you know that the film has now been bought by Netflix and so A New York Christmas Wedding will be available from 5 November

  2. This is a great review- I love a good Christmas film! I’m glad to think it’s a thought provoking film, not just the cliche lovey-dovey Christmas film. The time travel aspect is very intriguing too. I’ll keep my eye out for this movie in the UK.

    Eve x

    1. Thanks, you will certainly enjoy the film. The director mentioned to me that there will be a free Facebook screening of the film at the Martha Vineyard’s African American Film Festival, October 6-10 and so hopefully you might be able to catch it then 🙂

    1. Hello, the director has mentioned to me that the screening of A New York Christmas Wedding tomorrow is at a global film festival, Urbaneotld film festival, and so could be viewed there. Alternatively, there will also be screening free screening on Facebook for the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival, Oct 6-10

  3. I love the sound of this!! I am a huge fan of Christmas films and New York is the highest place on my bucket list so this is ticking lots of boxes.

    Great review, I look forward to watching it x

    1. Thanks, it is a great film to watch and so I am hoping that it will receive a UK release as it’s currently in various film festivals.

    2. Hi Claire, the director mentioned some festival screenings to me, if you did wish to watch the film early. It is appearing at the Urbanworld Film Festival tomorrow at 3pm,(BST) and will be available for 24 hours. Alternatively, there will be a free screening on Facebook at the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival on 6-10 October

  4. I’ve not heard of this film but the idea of alternative scenarios at Christmas is the premise of It’s A Wonderful Life, one of my favourite films. So I’ll look out for this one when it’s released over here, thank you!

    1. Thanks, the film is still at the festival stages and will have a screening at the urbanworld film festival on 23 September in the US. Fingers crossed that it may be picked up by a UK distributor for a release here!

    2. Hi Lisa, I’ve received an update from the director about some ofvthe screenings for A New York Christmas Wedding. There is a screening tomorrow at 3pm,(BST) for the global Urbanworld Film Festival. Alternatively, there will be a free screening on Facebook got the Martha’s Vineyard African American Film Festival on 6-10 October

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Follow on Feedly
Recommended
Cyberlante is entirely shot on a mobile phone which adds…
Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_mastodonIcon_order" in /customers/e/f/e/franglais27tales.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 175 Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_mastodon_display" in /customers/e/f/e/franglais27tales.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 268 Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_snapchat_display" in /customers/e/f/e/franglais27tales.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 277 Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_reddit_display" in /customers/e/f/e/franglais27tales.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 274 Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_fbmessenger_display" in /customers/e/f/e/franglais27tales.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 271 Warning: Undefined array key "sfsi_tiktok_display" in /customers/e/f/e/franglais27tales.com/httpd.www/wp-content/plugins/ultimate-social-media-icons/libs/controllers/sfsi_frontpopUp.php on line 265
error

Enjoy this blog? Please spread the word :)