A Sunburnt Christmas

Think of all the great Christmas movies you have seen. Now relocate them to Australia (where it is Summer), sprinkle on some Australian humour, and add a just a dash of Christmas cliché. What you then have is a Christmas movie like no other - a guaranteed future classic. Welcome to history, A Sunburnt Christmas!

The Raley's, wily 15-year-old Hazel (Tatiana Goode), along with and her siblings, the fearless Daisy (Lena Nankivell) and hypochondriac Tom (Eadan McGuinness) are keeping things together as best they can since the death of their father. When a strange man dressed as Santa (Henshall) crashes a car full of Christmas toys into their shed, turning Christmas and their entire lives upside down in ways that could never have been imagined....

Without giving too much away, what ensues next has all the Christmas trademarks - it is funny, sweet and a touch sad.

I understand the M rating, the film does contain religious references, mild language use, some contentious issues (mostly around Santa potentially being blown up, his powers and his existence, as well as the subtext of suicide). It also has a shotgun toting 6-year-old! However, with no sex scenes, toilet talk or other inappropriate scenes or themes - you decide. This film is boldly fresh with the topics and references seamlessly and often humourlessly integrated.

If you loved watching Elf, Home Alone or Die Hard, you will love A Sunburnt Christmas.

Thank you @StanAustralia, @ScreenAustralia and director @ChristiaanVanVuuren, as well as the entire cast and crew for making such a standout Christmas movie!

This is a really fun Christmas movie with a great story, likeable characters, plenty of laughs and most importantly lots of Christmas spirit.

It never makes you cringe nor does it go down cliched paths. The plot isn't predictable and kept me interested. I enjoyed seeing a summer Christmas in a movie for a change.

The actors were all great from the kids to the villain and everyone in between. What I liked most was that it was really Aussie without having to use unrealistic stereotypes.

A fun watch for the whole family.

Quirky Australian Christmas movie with great performances by a largely inexperienced cast is probably the best way to review this. It's funny and heartfelt. My only negative might be that the ending involved some comical violence and some kids may not like it.

Overall a great antidote to sickly sweet Christmas films with and with Australian twist

And an alternative new year, then join me and everybody else that enjoyed this peculliar and maybe to some a really different x-mas movie, where the sun is on its highest at the northern side of the compass, and where the vortexes usually churns the wrong way, a film that made me smile and laugh, where phil collins of the genesis has found his spittin image to do his biographical drama when he takes a pass by on the road to the city called alice, and where the children actors must be a joy to the world and to the adult actors, because their plain and simple marvelous.

so if you wanna have an outback christmas, with a paid vouleteerin outback santa sharing love and joy by spreading rain over henrietta or whatever the name of the homestead was, wher the kids are darling buds of naivity, the coming of age daughter the govner cause the mum is completely crazy then have a look at ''a sunburnt christmass''. its a recommend from the grumpy old man thinking that this might be a classic to the x-mas nerds

Possibly the only Christmas movie I've ever enjoyed. The themes are a bit mature for the kids but is perfect for engaging with the disillusioned teen at Christmas.