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Two paper suitcases and a bag of presents sit on a lamp-lit snowy platform bench, with a departing train and open winter countryside beyond.

Essential Christmas · 2022

Your Christmas or Mine?

61/100Festive FactorWhy it scores 61 ↓
UK certificate 1294 min
Comedy · Romance

A home-grown romcom built on one neat mix-up: two students swap trains on impulse and each lands with the…

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Plan this film night ↓Can the kids watch? ↓
Explore this film 10 sections

The CineClaus Christmas score

Festive Factor

Christmas all the way through.

Two paper elves inspect a miniature snowy station with two suitcases and a gift bag on a bench beside a lamp and curving railway tracks.

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 most of it.15/20

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

The little seasonal details3 of the 10 kinds of Christmas icon we count turn up on screen.5/15

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 traditionA December regular (25,000+).6/15

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

85/100

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

Prime Video

Included with a subscription
In the catalogue

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 Your Christmas or Mine?

Two drama students saying goodbye at a London station for Christmas each decide, on the spur of the moment, to jump on the other's train and surprise them. They pass each other without noticing, so each ends up spending the holidays with the other's family: one loud, warm and working-class in the north, the other stiff and grand in a country manor. Snow strands them both, and they have to win over the in-laws before they can find each other again.

The CineClaus verdict

A home-grown romcom built on one neat mix-up: two students swap trains on impulse and each lands with the other's family. You can see every beat coming from the first platform, and the class comedy is drawn with a broad brush. It works anyway, because Daniel Mays and Angela Griffin make the noisy household a joy and Alex Jennings gets a softer arc than stiff fathers usually do.

Cora Kirk is the find. Predictable and very British, and a good pick for anyone who likes their romance mild and their in-laws loud.

The family desk

Can the kids watch?

12

Our take: rated 12 for moderate sex references and rude humour. No scares at all, but it sits best with twelve and up.

BBFC advice: Moderate sex references, rude humour.

Content advice & accessibility
Where the advice comes from
The British Board of Film Classification (BBFC).
Our age guidance
Editorial, separate from the official 12 certificate, and never looser than it.

The series

The Your Christmas or Mine films

2 films, in release order

  • 2022

    You’re here

    Your Christmas or Mine?

    2022

    You’re on this film’s page
  • 2023

    The film after

    Your Christmas or Mine 2

    2023

    Not in our catalogue yet
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 young man with tousled blond hair and pale blue eyes, in a grey and black patterned jacket, standing outside beside a car.Asa Butterfieldas James
Cora Kirkas Hayley
Angela Griffin smiling in profile at a television awards photocall, wearing a dark lace-trimmed dress and gold jewellery.Angela Griffinas Kath
Close photograph of Daniel Mays with dark curly hair and stubble, wearing a dark shirt and holding a ball while speaking.Daniel Maysas Geoff
Harriet Walter in a white shirt, looking to the side in front of a book festival backdrop, with short grey hair.Harriet Walteras Iris
Alex Jenningsas Humphrey
Close portrait of an older man with long grey hair and a navy jacket speaking beside a microphone at a convention panel.David Bradleyas Jack
Natalie Gumedeas Kaye

Behind the camera

Directed by
Jim O'Hanlon
Writing & production credits
Writer
Tom Parry
Photo credits

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

Asa Butterfield · https://flickr.com/photos/greg2600 · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Angela Griffin · JaceMerlyn · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

Daniel Mays · Soccer Aid for UNICEF · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY 3.0 (opens in a new tab).

Harriet Walter · TimDuncan · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 4.0 (opens in a new tab).

David Bradley · Gage Skidmore · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab).

Keep the Christmas feeling

Music & soundtrack

That tune you recognised. That score you loved. Take a little of the film into the rest of your Christmas.

Every track on the soundtrack album, in album order.

About this music list

These are the songs and soundtrack we hold for the film, not a complete cue sheet, and they give no scene timings. Album track lists and durations come from MusicBrainz. Spotify and Apple Music links open the matched recordings; links marked Search open a search on that service.

MusicBrainz ↗ (opens in a new tab) filmmusicreporter.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Step into the story

Filming locations

The real places behind Your Christmas or Mine?. Choose one to explore.

Find it on the mapLondon Marylebone station

© 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.

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Photographs of the real places

There’s more behind the film.
Explore the next place.

Photo credits & location sources

These are photographs of the places, not film stills. Dates vary; photographs do not show current conditions or guarantee access.

London Marylebone station · Martin Addison · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · findthatlocation.com (opens in a new tab)

High Wycombe railway station · Peter Jemmett · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · findthatlocation.com (opens in a new tab)

North Weald railway station · Christine Johnstone · Source image (opens in a new tab) · CC BY-SA 2.0 (opens in a new tab) · findthatlocation.com (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 Your Christmas or Mine?

Film facts &
behind the scenes

For the fans who stay after the credits.

Movie magic

A winter film shot in summer

The snow and wintry weather in the finished film were added for the production: the cast filmed it in the summer, with Asa Butterfield recalling singing a Christmas song in a Christmas jumper in the height of summer.

Read the story

Source: findthatlocation.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

Geoff's turkey jumper stayed on all shoot

Daniel Mays says Geoff's knitted turkey jumper was so constant a costume that he barely got to take it off for the whole shoot. It suits a character who sells ice cream in summer and turkeys in winter.

Read the story

Source: whattowatch.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

Movie magic

Snow machines in June

With the film shot in June, the winter look came from snow machines and set tricks. Daniel Mays says he was won over by how convincingly the crew made it work, and ranks it among his favourite shoots.

Read the story

Source: whattowatch.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

On set

A first feature for Cora Kirk

Hayley is Cora Kirk's first film role. Daniel Mays has called her debut the most accomplished he has seen from any actor he has worked with, and Angela Griffin, who plays his on-screen wife, was a childhood idol of Kirk's.

Read the story

Source: whattowatch.com ↗ (opens in a new tab)

And at a glance

Releases and certificates
: On streaming. Prime Video release.
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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Collections, stories & Christmas memories

Elsewhere on CineClaus

More places to find Your Christmas or Mine?, and a few good reasons to keep exploring.

In this collection

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Your Christmas or Mine? is in this collection

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Collection

Feel-good Christmas films for a cosy night in

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Stay for another story.All collections · The Christmas Edit