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Strapped cardboard parcels and a red and white folded parachute rest on a sunny airfield apron. Palm trees with fairy lights stand beside a hangar.

Essential Christmas · 2020

Operation Christmas Drop

49/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 49 ↓
UK certificate Universal95 min
Comedy · Family

A Netflix romcom built around a real humanitarian airlift, filmed largely on the working air base and using…

On Netflix · UK subscription →
Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 8 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas in good measure.

Two paper elves inspect a tropical airfield miniature with a cargo plane, stacked boxes and a red and white parachute. Fairy lights circle the palm trees.

A little magic in the making.

Five ingredients make the Festive Factor.
Open an ingredient to find out more.

Christmas in the storyChristmas drives it, but another occasion could stand in.20/30

What we ask: Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive? Worth up to 30 of the 100 points.

A world dressed for ChristmasVisibly Christmas for the final act.5/20

What we ask: How much of the running time is visibly Christmas? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

The little seasonal details4 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.6/15

What we ask: How many kinds of Christmas icon turn up on screen: trees, lights, snow, carols and the rest? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

A Christmas heartHow far the ending rests on goodwill, family and belief: substantially.15/20

What we ask: Does the ending depend on what Christmas means: goodwill, family, redemption, belief? Worth up to 20 of the 100 points.

A returning traditionNiche at Christmas (under 25,000).3/15

What we ask: Is it actually watched at Christmas in the UK? Worth up to 15 of the 100 points.

72/100

Cosiness Rating Rating

Warm in tone. Mild threat. A happy ending.

How we score →
What do these scores mean?

Festive Factor measures how Christmassy a film is. Five ingredients add up to 100: story (30), setting (20), seasonal details (15), emotional heart (20) and returning tradition (15).

Cosiness is a separate score for warmth of tone, sense of safety, visual comfort, a reassuring ending and how easily you can settle into it.

How the Festive Factor works →
Your next film night

Where to watch

United KingdomChecked

Netflix

Included with a subscription
Open Operation Christmas Drop on Netflix (opens in a new tab)

Streaming changes constantly and we cannot promise it is still right - check the service before you settle in. Streaming availability information provided by Streaming Availability API by Movie of the Night (opens in a new tab).

The story

About Operation Christmas Drop

In the run-up to Christmas, a by-the-book congressional aide is sent to a US Air Force base in the tropical Pacific to find reasons to shut it down. Her guide is an easy-going pilot who wants her to see the base's annual Christmas airdrop of donated supplies and gifts to remote islands, and as she watches the tradition up close her report, and her feelings, start to change.

The CineClaus verdict

A Netflix romcom built around a real humanitarian airlift, filmed largely on the working air base and using footage from a genuine drop, and that real footage outshines everything staged around it. The romance follows the template and the premise drains its own tension early on.

It hardly looks like December either, all palm trees and heat, with the festive bit arriving by parachute. Kind, undemanding viewing for a household that fancies sunshine with its tinsel, and easy to half-watch while wrapping presents.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

U

Our take: rated U and suitable for any age; a brief storm is the only peril, although small children may wander off during the kissing.

Content advice & accessibility
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official U certificate, and never looser than it.
Subtitles · Audio description
Check your chosen service and edition for supported tracks.
The people behind the film

Cast and crew

The faces in front of the camera, and the people who brought the story to life.

Main cast

In billing order
Close photograph of a smiling woman with long dark hair, wearing a pinstripe jacket and a small headset microphone against a red background.Kat Grahamas Erica
Smiling man with short fair hair and a light beard, wearing a black zip hoodie, seated in front of a bright yellow display.Alexander Ludwigas Captain Andrew Jantz
A smiling woman with long, curly blonde hair, wearing a white jacket over a black and white patterned blouse.Virginia Madsenas Congresswoman Bradford
Janet Kidderas Lieutenant Colonel Blaine
Jeffrey Josephas Brigadier General Hatcher
Bethany Brownas Sunshine
Trezzo Mahoroas Joker

Behind the camera

Directed by
Martin Wood
Photo credits

Portraits via Wikimedia Commons, each under its own licence, approved for this page by a person. Sources and full photographer credits:

Kat Graham · Collision Conf · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Alexander Ludwig · German Comic Con · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Virginia Madsen · VirginiaMadsenSFIFF06.jpg : Cirne at https://www.flickr.com/photos/cirne/ derivative work: Tabercil ( talk ) · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Operation Christmas Drop. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapGuam

© OpenStreetMap contributors (opens in a new tab)

Open larger map ↗ (OpenStreetMap, opens in a new tab)

Map shows the selected place. Drag to explore; use + and − to zoom.

Location sources

Guam · Wikidata (opens in a new tab)

Map pins mark the place, not a camera position or a route. Map data © OpenStreetMap contributors (ODbL), including any pin positions read from OpenStreetMap.

A little more Operation Christmas Drop

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

On set

Most of it was shot on a working air base

About nine tenths of the film was shot on Andersen Air Force Base in Guam, jungle and beach scenes included. The director's view was that you cannot build an air base for a film, so the crew moved onto a real one.

Read the story

Source: Stars and Stripes ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

Some of the drop footage is real

Shots from the 2019 Operation Christmas Drop, the actual annual mission, were used in the film. The Navy also supplied two helicopters and two ships for the sequence showing travel to a distant island, and the producer said no green screen was used.

Read the story

Source: Stars and Stripes ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

Filming in the open back of a cargo plane

Cast and crew were allowed onto Air Force aircraft to film. The director has said the crew worked tethered in the open back of a C-130 during tight turns over the ocean, and that the air sickness bags got plenty of use.

Read the story

Source: Stars and Stripes ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

A village built with local help

A Chamorro village was built for the film by a local chief and celestial navigator. Military spouses and Guam locals worked as set decorators, production assistants and stand-ins, and the film is described as the first major Hollywood production to shoot on Guam.

Read the story

Source: Stars and Stripes ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

Releases and certificates
: On streaming. Arrived on Netflix.
Sources & a note on these facts

Each production story is linked to its source, in our own words. Ending details stay behind a spoiler reveal.

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