User reviews

This movie could've been a Christmas classic. It has a relatively strong cast and feels distinctly British. But it's let down by so many basic shortfalls it's hard to look past.

1. The autotune for some of the songs is just awful.

2. Much of the singing tracks don't match their mouth movements on screen, they're often out of sync or just totally different (seriously!!) 3. The dialogue is unbelievably cringe at some points - the toast at the dinner table to the NHS is one such moment (keeping in mind they are raising money for him to be treated in Switzerland).

4. Kunal Nayar's performance is incredibly wooden. I can't redeem it.

So yeah, could have been good - works out as slightly below average.

My only criticisms are the out of sync singing and use of obvious green screen (look out for the 4 ghosts waving at the end for example). It was a great, feel good, cheesy, OTT film. Kunal was brilliant, as was the supporting cast. I'm not sure why Boy George was in it 😆 It definitely doesn't deserve the terrible reviews. Go see it for yourself.

I dont even remember the last time i left a review on a movie and ive watched over 250 in the past 12 months! This seriously was so awful I felt the need to.

From the first 5 minutes I knew I was in for a painful watch. Im not one to leave though, so I stuck it out until the end.

I felt for the kids in the cinema more than anything because its cruel making anyone sit through this movie, never mind children.

It had a very political agenda and had things shoved down your throat, the acting was questionable from all involved. Just to shout out Pixie Lott because I actually love her but in this her acting was so bad I was cringing everytime she was on screen. I must have rolled my eyes 30 plus times, im not even exaggerating! It was that bad.

As youve probably guessed, I do not recommend this at all unless you want your eyes to itch with pain for 2+ hours.

I really enjoyed this film it was an easy watch on a dull November day! I did notice the lips were not always in sinc and some acting was a bit hammy but if you go with the flow it's a good watch especially the dancing and ghosts! I found it heartwarming ! Would recommend to anyone who is willing to just drink it all in some of the songs were great !

I went in with low expectations but loved it. It's sweet and not just a rehash of a Christmas Carol. The music is stuck in my head already and I can't wait to watch it again. Just take it as a catchy warm Christmas movie perfect for Christmas! I loved the mix of Bollywood and pop and the addition of some very stylish ghosts helped. We have mariachi, Bollywood, rapping and some pop so something for everything and a song in the middle of the film to break your heart a little bit. My idea of a lovely Christmas film!

A Bollywood adaptation of Christmas carol with poorly synced singing and bad acting. Only saving grace is Danny Dyer. A very confused story line and film, blending traditional Christmas carol characters with new "modern" characters. A real disappointment, to the point where you're dreading the next poorly synced singalong.

CHRISTMAS KARMA is a treat for the entire family because it is full of love and affection for a community that is rarely represented on screen. It's true to Dickens and yet extremely topical. Gurinder Chadha's London is hopeful and joyous. The characters are human and moving. The music is uplifting and life-affirming. Kunal Nayyar and the entire cast do an incredible job in this brilliant film.

An amazing film. My fiancé and I went to see in cinema on release day and we fell in love with it. The acting and singing were brilliant and the story was beautiful with tears shed during the film. It was great to see Kunal Nayyar in this film as he and the rest of the cast were amazing. Will definitely watch again and this will definitely be an annual re watch.

I've seen a lot of Gurinder Chadha's films, and they are very hit-or-miss. All are linked to her own family history - this one, her being born to a Punjabi family in Kenya, which she devoted a little too much of the running time to. The film was poorly paced, had a lead actor too young for the role, bad lip-syncing, stilted dialogue, and heavy-handed politics. But my biggest gripe was the dubious morality. Having a progressive attitude towards refugees is fine, and the message criticising people who pull the ladder up behind them makes sense. But the view that money solves everything was just weird. Snood throws his money around, and we are supposed to cheer. Danny Dyer abandons his family on Christmas Day for a large wad of cash. Snood buys everything at the corner shop and pays for Tiny Tim's private healthcare. He wasn't embracing Christmas; he was being ostentatious. We had to travel to see the film because it's not playing on many screens, but it was what we expected, and I have no doubt we'll watch it again. Even if it's just to see Billy Porter and Danny Dyer singing again - for different reasons.

I went into this film underwhelmed, outside of a cheap animated one for toddlers and couple of horrors, there's 1 Christmas movie getting a uk cinema release which has been the case for last couple of years, so you'd assume that one would be a brand new cheesy classic fresh and ready to be added to the list of yearly binges.

But nope, for the 57347534th time someone thought, let's do the Christmas Carol story but add another mind numbingly boring twist, people are saying it's getting hate because it showed different religions.. no it didn't, it portrayed nothing of anything very well at all, no traditions or in depth looks at other cultures or how they celebrate, that's just a lazy excuse to hide behind this being a garbage movie.

Acting is horrendous, a lot of pretty well known faces and they all suck here, the dialogue is awful and the chemistry is none existent, the three ghosts were dreadful and offered nothing at all, adding in day of the dead was a needless and cheap, didn't add any depth to it anyway.

The music was awful, I mean Pixie Lott can sing but didn't bother here, she should never ever act again, this was hilariously bad, the music was terrible, forgettable and just completely needless, 10 people left the cinema based off the 1st song as it went on and on and on and you could tell it was goons to be bad.

I'd say 85% is 0/10 10% of film 5/10 5% was 7/10 (the last bit is always good.

Unwatchable in places, it's disgusting cinemas are charging full prices for this. It's far worse than stuff you get on the apps.

Just don't.

Ignore the naysayers! This was a hilarious feel good movie, very original and entertaining. I guess you may need to be a British Asian to understand some of the comedic nuances but the 'Bakwaas' was comedy gold. Great acting, musical songs and themes. Enjoyed it immensely with family. The ghosts of Christmas past, present and future were inspired.

I've seen so many versions of A Christmas Carol including live performances at the Kansas City Repertory Theater that the story has become tedious.

This version breathes a fresh breath of life into a one hundred and eighty one year old story. This is the first musical version of the story that I have seen. And the main character "Mr. Sood" is the equivalent of Ebenezer Scrooge in the original story. Mr. Sood is played wonderfully by Raj from The Big Bang Theory... AKA Kunal Nayyar. I didn't even realize it was "Raj" until after the movie because he played the character so well.

The story is updated to the present day. Mr. Stood of Stood and Marley operates a modern business with Bob Cratchit and a whole modern day office of employees. The show also employs Bollywood type music and dance to move the story forward.

Mr. Stood is visited by the ghost of Mr. Marley. (I could kick myself for being a huge fan of the Downton Abbey TV series and movies and not recognize Hugh Bonneville as Marley's ghost.) I saw Eva Longoria's name in the opening credit and still didn't recognize her as the Hispanic ghost of Christmas past. The incredible Billy Porter played the ghost of Christmas present. And boy, oh boy, Boy George played the ghost of Christmas yet to be.

Such a super star powered cast!!

The Indian theme due to the main character's Indian background was enhanced by the great Indian type music and dancing.

After the movie musical "Into The Woods" and "In the Heights" among others, I hold movie musicals to that high standard. This movie may not be as great as those musicals. But it came very close. The choreography was great. The music was really good. My only complaint was that occasionally it was obvious that the performers singing appeared to be singing to a pre recorded track. And that may be how all great musicals are done, but they kind of missed the mark. One great Indian singer in two places sang beautifully but it was hard to tell who was singing because his mouth didn't seem to match the beautiful sound of the Indian type music. Maybe that's just how it looks with the sound at the beginning... but it seemed off to me.

The updated story made the movie fresh and not seem like the 181 year old story I've heard over and over for the last forty years. I looked forward to each ghost and what they had to show Mr. Stood because it was a new story for the character.

This movie deserves 10 stars!!!

⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐⭐

This is what happens when you get an interesting idea made by people who don't know how to make films or write drama. Just goes to show that just like Trump you can fool a lot of people a lot of the time by appealing to your base. Except unlike Trump at least they have their hearts in the right place. Maybe get the makers to attend some workshops led by skilled professionals. Goodness gracious me. But maybe you have to have a bullet proof ego that can't hear criticism in order to do this stuff in the first place.

What on earth were the makers of this film thinking?! Do not bother taking your children to see this. Do not bother, full-stop! Idi Amin and politics are not appropriate entertainment for children, never mind marketed as a family Christmas film.

Gob smacked and traumatised! Speechless. So, so bad.

See Elf instead. See a good film.

British Reviewer.

If you're American or Canadian and wondering how or why or even if we're annoyed or concerned about what should be cinematic homeruns. Then us Brits are as perplexed as you. It's only in a tiny, bohemian milieu of London (extremely posh) who sanction and welcome the cultural dereliction of our historically sacred literature. Our arts and culture have been swamped by possibly Marxist/communist masochists. These people hate the indigenous population of British Isles, they hate even the notion that there is an indigenous population.

A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens is a uniquely important piece of literature extolling warmth and generosity from the shrewd and bitter rich, to the hard up, destitute working class. But the Cultural Marxists will not allow that central message ever be perpetuated via mainstream British cinematic production.

My husband and I went to the cinema not expecting anything and we loved it !

The movie is original, it's not what you expect for a Christmas movie.

The story is really emotional, the songs are really good and the actors are good too!

I really recommend to see it if you want to make your own opinion!

I can see it now: all the Christmas food, and for me, nothing beats a giant turkey and piles of cheese. So I should've loved Christmas Karma - it's one massive turkey absolutely dripping in cheese. And yet, I hated it.

The problems are too many to count, though I'll give the tiniest nod of praise for at least trying to raise important social issues around inclusion and racism - however ham-fisted and awkward those attempts may be - and for a few of Gary Barlow's catchier tunes. But even those can't save this mess. If anything, the songs make it worse: lyrics that might have worked as standalone radio tracks are repurposed here as clumsy exposition, adding to an already over-explained and painfully on-the-nose script.

Exactly how the director managed to butcher the classic character arc of Scrooge is a mystery - and sadly, it's the most impressive thing about the film. The tone is all over the place, veering between light and dark with no clear sense of direction. The editing only adds to the chaos, throwing in key narrative moments where they stall rather than drive the plot forward, completely missing the emotional beats they're meant to hit.

The film has no idea who it's made for: too shallow and smug for adults, yet too boring and serious for children. The cast seem trapped in this confusion, delivering stiff performances that never quite settle between forced sentimentality and half-hearted slapstick. "Comic relief" is generous - nothing that's supposed to be funny actually lands. The visual storytelling lacks any imagination, and the dialogue is, frankly, dreadful.

Honestly, this might be the worst Christmas film I've ever seen - and considering the amount of festive junk that gets churned out every year, that's quite an achievement.

Still, I'll take one positive from the experience: if Christmas Karma can find its way onto a cinema screen, there's hope for every aspiring filmmaker out there. That thought, at least, might save me from the nightmares poor Scrooge had to endure.

This was a very good take on the old classic story of Scrooge.

I loved the different angle using an Indian family and the Bollywood theme with musical inserts.

Lots of good lessons and morals in this movie, especially in today's split society.

The movie was very emotional, both funny and sad.

Give this a go with an open mind, it's brilliant.

Christmas Karma reimagines a beloved seasonal classic through a bold, soulful lens. It takes the familiar warmth of Christmas storytelling and infuses it with a modern message about accountability, empathy, and unity across all colours and cultures.

At its heart, it isn't just a story about redemption, it's a truth telling mirror held up to humanity, reminding us that kindness and cruelty come from every corner of the spectrum.

What makes Christmas Karma so moving is its diversity, not only in the cast but in the way it portrays the shared human experience. The film refuses to simplify or villainize based on race, gender, or background. Instead, it shows that hate, prejudice, and discrimination are universal flaws that transcend colour. We must have compassion and change is the responsibility of all of us, not just one group.

Each character's journey becomes a reflection of our own collective responsibility to do better. This modern twist on a cherished holiday tale doesn't just ask us to celebrate Christmas; it challenges us to live it.

Through forgiveness, understanding, and hard earned self-awareness, Christmas Karma reminds viewers that true holiday spirit isn't wrapped in perfection, but in growth. It's a powerful, emotional reminder that while pain and bias may be shared across humanity, so too is the capacity for healing.

Absolutely loved this film! Such an amazing A List cast, great fresh details to an old classic. Fabulous songs brilliant acting and deeply moving in parts. A proper Christmas feel good movie! A long awaited cracker. I don't know why there's such bad reviews, I'd watch this over and over. Well done and thanks for a great start to Christmas 2025.

A whole load of nostalgia and very relatable parts for immigrants/ second generation brits! Gurrinder Chadha as always making sure we are realistically represented.

I think some of the comments are extremely unfair.

I do appreciate some negative (this is where I do cut off a point): the additional star cast of pixie Lott, Boy George, Eva Longoria etc (although I love them), do feel misplaced/ unnecessary (as the storyline speaks for itself). Some of the quotes and lines are cheesy and will grow old however don't think fair to represent the film as an all.

The storyline is beautiful and once the movie got into the nitty gritty of it (after the singing at the start), it was a pleasurable watch. We left laughing, crying and overall light and happy.