Julestorm - La tempesta di Natale

A Santa Claus, a priest, and a concert pianist walk into a bar... Sorry, couldn't resist. There IS a bar. And a guy working as a Santa Claus. And an actual priest. And a very indignant concert pianist, whose career is in free fall. There's also a pop star with her assistant and a body guard. A constantly fighting couple with a pre-teen daughter. A young woman meeting her lover. A very nasty female attorney. A girl sitting at the bar, working on a list of things her Dad might want for Christmas. Yeah, it's almost Christmas and all these people and many more are stuck in the Oslo airport due to bad weather.

Yes, it's a very overused setup. But we were browsing through Netflix on Christmas eve and literally all other Christmas movies looked downright ridiculous. At least being stuck at an airport because of bad weather is perfectly realistic. Airports do bring together people from all walks of life. And bad weather is a great equalizer - no amount of money will get you to your destination.

Over 6 30 minute episodes we get to know each of the many characters a bit and some of them get to know each other. Acting is excellent across the board. Everyone is a living breathing human being. This being a European series, there is a lot of sadness, but also a good amount of light. A skinny black Santa Claus manages to grant at least one child her Christmas wish, sort of. And one sugary miracle is forgiven.

A heart warming, slow burning and beautiful mini series about what is important in life. We follow quite a couple of different people and storylines throughout a 24 hour period, who is stuck in Oslo airport because of a snowstorm, the 23'th and 24'th of December. All of our characters experience some kind of heartache together with challenges, that leads to insight, growth and redemption. And the stories intertwine perfectly with one another. I love the "low key" nordic atmosphere and humor of it all. It is relatable and authentic. And also the mix of Norwegian, Swedish and Danish characters. Norway is doing so good with these Netflix shows, and I can't wait to see what will come next.

At first I was really confused because there are a lot of very different characters, but after a couple of episodes you get a pretty good grasp of who they are. All the actors are doing a good job portraying their character, and makes the story decently believable.

It was a wonderful idea to have different nationalities a part of this show, I feel most of the time it works what seems effortlessly.

The soundtrack and mood is great in every episode, and you feel you get closer and closer to a happy ending for all.

There are some very weird dialogues here and there, and things I can't imagine anyone would say... One character swaps very cringey between languages for apparently no reason, and others just have truly odd lines. I also feel there is a character who got totally forgotten about which left me wondering why we didn't get to see their happy ending... But all in all, decent christmas show and worth a watch.

This is a lovely, slow-paced, and character-driven series. No major events are happening; the focus is on relations between people and their conversations. I believe it's crucial that you like these types of series to enjoy A Storm for Christmas. The people who give this series bad reviews was expecting something different.

Just because you loved Home for Christmas (same director, some of the same actors), doesn't mean this series is a perfect fit for you. It's not really a similar at all, as Home for Christmas has a lot more humor, romance and more "action", while A Storm for Christmas is best described as mellow, cozy and moving.

The series is heartwarming and made me feel sad when it was over cause I started caring so much about several characters!

It's a breath of fresh air compared to many new-ish Christmas movies and series with so many clichés. Not to say there are no clichés in this one; there are, but in a different way.

There are many great actors here from Norway, Sweden, and Denmark. Recommend not watching the series dubbed cause you'll miss the fact that they speak different languages and therefore sometimes misunderstand each other.

I saw another review here stating how strange it is that one character switches between languages. This is likely the security guard who's not a native Norwegian speaker (the actress is American) and therefore changes to English sometimes. I do, however, agree it's strange that it is never really mentioned why she does that for international viewers.

And yes, there is a lot of profanity! Scandinavians aren't very religious people.

Exactly what you want from a Christmas show. Heartwarming, lots of life lessons and personal growth, love stories (romantic, friendship, family and even a dog) and a ton of emotions. The stories of the characters intertwine and the suspense each developing story line keeps you interested but not in a heavy way so it's easy watching. A few story lines are fairly predictable which for a generic show it might be a downside, for a Christmas show though it works perfectly. Other story lines are a little deeper and make for interesting characters. Perfect show to binge with a massive pile of snacks.