As other reviewers have noted, this film is a big departure from the common romance and comedy films set around Christmas. "The Least of These" focus is on charity, kindness, forgiveness, and caring about and for others. But, these virtues are mostly talked about, with just a couple of instances in practice. So, the screenplay is very wordy and talkative, and the plot has a number of holes that leave questions in the audience minds. Where did Rose and Katie come from? What happened to her father? Why are they homeless and living in a car parked near a junkyard? The car is Rose's because it's got a live battery that operates the radio. So, they pulled in and parked in this community from somewhere. Rose later says she has a bad track record with men, but Katie's letter to Santa Claus wishes for a father. Did she know her dad or not?
When Rose gets a job at Jack's Diner, he first gives her and daughter Katie a meal. We hear about that, but don't see it. When Charley and his wife give Rose and Katie a room in their home, it's a visible and real act of kindness. But when Katie talks to Charley about forgiveness, the audience learns that he and his son have been estranged for some reason and haven't spoken for six to seven years. Then, at the mysterious Christmas party that someone has thrown (later, the audience learns it's Robert and Livie), one is led by the camera to think that a man and woman who appear with a young boy are Charley's son and family. They smile at one another, and that's what is shown about forgiveness.
While the plot is okay, the story and screenplay just don't develop it well, relying instead mostly on a lot of dialog. And, with the holes in the story, and lack of background on most of the characters, this film seems incomplete. The ending is quite a stretch. Yet, with these many shortcomings, the performances are generally quite good, especially considering that few of this cast are professional actors. Only one cast person would fit in that category - Deborah Allen who plays Livie, had 33 acting credits as of 2022. Michael Nicolosi, who plays Charley, had just eight acting credits, and Jason Bynam as Luke had 10. The leads who play Rose and Katie have just two and four credits, respectively.
This movie was filmed in Fayetteville, Tennessee. So, there wasn't any snow for this Christmas, but rain. I noticed something quite unusual, at the end. The credits include 26 names of art gallery patrons, even though the audience could see just a few, mostly the backs of heads, at the gallery opening. And, it shows 73 names of the people who were at the Christmas party in the end. I'm not sure the cameras were even able to show all of them. These are the people who are called extras in filmmaking. Major studios don't begin to list the names of such casts, especially the dozens and dozens of extras who have no speaking or acting parts.
