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The annual Christmas debate

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone.
Christmas film?

We have not ruled on Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone yet, so there is no official score. It turns on whether one warm Christmas chapter can carry a story that runs from autumn to summer.

Harry Potter and the Philosopher's Stone has one of the warmest Christmas sequences in any family film: snow, a feast, presents at the foot of a bed. It opened in British cinemas in November 2001, and it has been part of a lot of family Christmases since.

The rubric asks a harder question. The Christmas chapter is one part of a school year that runs from autumn to summer, the plot does not need it, and the ending happens nowhere near December. That points towards Not really, however much it feels like Christmas.

It is the clearest case on this list for keeping Cosiness and Festive Factor apart. On the first it does well. On the second, one chapter can only carry so much.

Sources

We have not ruled on this one yet. This is what CineClaus readers say.

Readers’ poll

Is Harry Potter a Christmas film?

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One film. Your call.

Score it yourself.

We have not ruled on this one yet. The questions are the ones we use. How the questions work. Rubric v1.3.

0 of 11 answers recorded · Question 1 of 11

Plot dependency · up to 30 points

Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive?

Take Christmas out. Does the plot survive?

An example certificate