Martin Freemanas Paul MaddensThe story
About Nativity!
A downbeat primary school teacher in Coventry lets slip a boast that Hollywood is coming to film his class nativity play, and the lie escapes before he can retrieve it. With a chaotic new teaching assistant egging him on and a rival private school breathing down his neck, he has to somehow make the claim true. Debbie Isitt built the film around improvisation with real schoolchildren.
The CineClaus verdict
Largely improvised, frequently shambolic, and far warmer than it has any business being.
The school-hall setting is exactly right — anyone who has sat through a primary nativity will recognise the chaos, the tinsel and the tea urn. It should not hold together, and mostly it does not, but the parts that land are genuinely lovely.
A very British sort of Christmas film: low on gloss, high on heart.
The family desk
Can the kids watch?
Our take: fine for all ages. Mild rude humour, a great deal of shouting, and nothing that needs explaining afterwards.
BBFC advice: Contains no material likely to offend or harm.
Content advice & accessibility
- Where the advice comes from
- The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
- Our age guidance
- Editorial, separate from the official U certificate, and never looser than it.
- Subtitles
- Check your chosen service and edition for supported tracks.
