A Storm for Christmas

A Santa Claus, a priest, and a concert pianist walk into a bar... Sorry, couldn't resist. There IS a bar. And a guy working as a Santa Claus. And an actual priest. And a very indignant concert pianist, whose career is in free fall. There's also a pop star with her assistant and a body guard. A constantly fighting couple with a pre-teen daughter. A young woman meeting her lover. A very nasty female attorney. A girl sitting at the bar, working on a list of things her Dad might want for Christmas. Yeah, it's almost Christmas and all these people and many more are stuck in the Oslo airport due to bad weather.

Yes, it's a very overused setup. But we were browsing through Netflix on Christmas eve and literally all other Christmas movies looked downright ridiculous. At least being stuck at an airport because of bad weather is perfectly realistic. Airports do bring together people from all walks of life. And bad weather is a great equalizer - no amount of money will get you to your destination.

Over 6 30 minute episodes we get to know each of the many characters a bit and some of them get to know each other. Acting is excellent across the board. Everyone is a living breathing human being. This being a European series, there is a lot of sadness, but also a good amount of light. A skinny black Santa Claus manages to grant at least one child her Christmas wish, sort of. And one sugary miracle is forgiven.

It was a series that caught my attention because I love airports. Also, it was excellent to combine the unrelated topics covered. There are lessons for everyone to learn. We see the concept of human psychology and destiny filmed in a sense. The players performed well according to their positions. It was a series that could be watched as a family and made inferences. Touched by real life, it was a series that showed how negativities in the family affect children and their separation from the family. It was an indication of how people who learned from the mistakes of the past use it as their only leverage in the future and that miracles can always happen.

Exactly what you want from a Christmas show. Heartwarming, lots of life lessons and personal growth, love stories (romantic, friendship, family and even a dog) and a ton of emotions. The stories of the characters intertwine and the suspense each developing story line keeps you interested but not in a heavy way so it's easy watching. A few story lines are fairly predictable which for a generic show it might be a downside, for a Christmas show though it works perfectly. Other story lines are a little deeper and make for interesting characters. Perfect show to binge with a massive pile of snacks.

I loved this series! Great script and outstanding performances by the actors. The carachters are so relateable. One message is that Christmas spirit is different for alle of us. We should stop what we're doing once in a while and acknowledge that we have no clue what other people are going through.

This series brings out every feeling you've got! Tears, laughter and manu touching moments.

There are too many series/movies about Christmas out there. Most of them are garbage compared to this one. Read the subtitles, it's not the same with dubbing. I'm Norwegian so I'm probably not objective, but I see other reviews are as positive as mine.

I haven't watched a single Norwegian (actually Scandinavian) movie badly played, and this is a recommendation already. The intertwined stories reminds of Love Actually, despite it's not so funny, not so dense, and touches tougher problems. I enjoyed the sincerity and the themes approached, the script, basically everything. Even if some reviewers will complain about stereotype of some stories, each and every one of them has new angles, and in general candid ones. There is nothing really ugly in any of them, and this is what makes it a good/great Christmas story (or stories). Obviously I recommend it.