by Noella Noelophile®
(Royalty-free image by anncapictures from Pixabay.)
What if you were college-age–and your family had already mapped out your life?
What if those plans included an arranged marriage, and taking over the family business?
Now, just to complicate things–what if your dad is Santa Claus? That “family business” is his whole North Pole enterprise–and your “intended” is Jack Frost’s son? Worse, what if you’ve never even met that son–because you’ve been “promised”, since childhood, in what amounts to a business merger?
That’s the premise of “Santa Girl”, from Netflix. And the cast and crew manage to have a lot of fun pulling it off, while treating viewers to a great Christmas romp.
(Royalty-free image by Larry White from Pixabay.)
At the start of the movie, Cassie Claus (Jennifer Stone) is far less than enchanted with the path set out for her. She wants to experience the “real world”.
When she secretly applies to college and is accepted, she must convince her father, now a dour and jaded Santa (Barry Bostwick), that she needs this one small concession before she accedes to his wishes.
Dad agrees, under two conditions.
First, Cassie must fulfill her part of the bargain after one semester. And second (to her chagrin), she must be chaperoned by her endearingly-annoying personal elf, Pep (McKayla Witt).
Cassie isn’t thrilled with the second condition, but accepts it. And off she goes, to her new on-campus adventure.
Not surprisingly, complications arise.
(Royalty-free image by S. Hermann & F. Richter from Pixabay.)
She doesn’t fit in with her fellow students. Her calculus class proves daunting. An attractive young undergraduate, JR (Joshua Cody) strikes up a friendship with her, despite Pep’s warnings–and is not what he seems.
And Cassie feels more than a shiver of attraction to fellow student Sam (Devon Werkheiser) when he sets up regular calculus tutoring sessions. Although the feeling is mutual, Cassie is mindful of her engagement–and her promise to her father.
But her fiancee’s father–Jack Frost himself (Hank Stone) isn’t so sure. Wanting to cement the merger between his family and Santa’s enterprise, he shows up on-campus and takes steps to protect his investment.
Meanwhile, December is coming ever closer.
What makes Santa Girl fun is the humor and imagination with which the story is told. (Who would ever have envisioned an elf as a dedicated career woman?) Cassie exhibits an almost-impossible predilection for sweets (an early scene where Pep brings her her breakfast, is classic!), which is believable, given her genetics.
(Royalty-free image by Jill Wellington from Pixabay.)
Barry Bostwick, as a widowed Santa, gives the less-than-jolly old saint a human perspective: wanting, and believing he knows, what is best for his only daughter. And he proudly boasts, at one point, of the “reindeer power” in his top-of-the-line, Christmas-red sports car.
In addition, the movie is a visual treat. The holiday-ball scene gleams like the sparkliest gold ornament. Jack Frost’s chilling makeup, with his dead-blue eyes, fits the character perfectly. And then there’s Santa’s fantasy castle, which I personally found reminiscent of Neuschwanstein and which provides a great metaphor for the established and impenetrable traditions which Cassie’s future is meant to uphold.
I’ll do no spoilers, but expect a twist in what otherwise might have been a predictable movie climax.
And a side note, which was a lot of fun: the beautiful college campus, in which the action is set, is more than a setting. It’s Shenandoah University, which, according to the university’s website, co-produced Santa Girl and involved 62 students in the project, in a first-of-its kind collaboration!