Festive Factor
88
Cosiness Rating
79
The verdict
The premise is a child's daydream — the empty house, the freedom, the shopping — and the film is smart enough to spend its first half on the loneliness underneath it. Then it becomes a cartoon, and the cartoon is very good indeed. The score does a lot of quiet work holding the two halves together. That suburban house at night with every window lit is one of the great Christmas images.
The certificate
BBFC PG. 2012 cinema entry (102m 45s), ratings info: moderate slapstick violence, infrequent moderate language - verified verbatim on BBFC. Original UK cinema classification 16/11/1990. Confirmed on bbfc.co.uk by Darren, 27 Aug 2026.
How to watch it
Checked 27 August
- Rent or buy
- Apple TV · Prime Video · Rakuten TV · Sky Store
- On telly
- Channel 4, most years
Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right — check the service before you settle in. Availability data by JustWatch.
If you liked this one
The Saturday Matinée
One short email a week from November.
What to watch, whether the kids can join, and the odd gift idea for the person who has seen Elf forty times. That is it. No daily noise.
Join and the printable advent checklist comes with it — twenty-four films, one a night. See what is on it.
One short email a week from November, and the odd gift idea. No daily noise, unsubscribe in one click.