The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

Lorelei Savaryn and her family recommend a new retelling of a children's story about a church Christmas play that takes an unexpected turn.

A new family Christmas film  

Our family has a full slate of Christmas movies that we enjoy watching every year. Home Alone, Elf, The Christmas Story, and others are all on the list. Those movies are fun in a cultural Christmas sense, and though they have heartwarming messages that weave in pieces of the Love that we come to know through our faith, none of them really addresses head-on the true meaning of Christmas.   

When our family learned that Dallas Jenkins, the creator of The Chosen, was making a movie based on the classic book The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, I immediately had great hope that this would be a special film. In preparation, we read the book aloud to our kids in the day before watching.   

This movie tells the story of the Herdman kids, six siblings who terrorize the students (and grown-ups) in their town and school. One Sunday, they find themselves in church because they heard there were free treats ... and before they know it, they’re playing the leads in the town’s Christmas pageant. Grace (Judy Greer), who is running the pageant, is in over her head, especially as she faces down a town that wants the Herdmans kicked out. But the play’s mischievous stars might unwittingly teach a community the true meaning of Christmas.   

The film stars familiar faces such as Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, and Lauren Graham, as well as a couple of actors from The Chosen, and a talented cast of actors all around.  

In short, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is, hands-down, the best new Christmas movie I’ve seen in years. Maybe decades. Maybe ever. 

A well-made movie  

The filmmaking quality is top-notch. It’s easy to see that Jenkins has transferred his aesthetically beautiful and purposeful filming style to this movie. The color palette, the way that the shots are framed, the movement of the camera, immediately lets the viewer know that they are watching a movie put together by a skilled team with a clear vision.   

It isn’t cheesy. It can be easy with this type of film to go too sappy or sentimental, but this film manages to avoid both. It stays largely faithful to the book, which was lovely to see, but a few intentional additions only added to the depth of the story and the message it shares so well.  

We live in a world where I often look up popular upcoming “family” movies to ensure that the content in them is truly appropriate for our kids. More than once while watching The Best Christmas Pageant Ever, I thought about what a gift it was to have this high quality of a movie to watch with our kids this Christmas, that tells the Christian message so clearly and beautifully and unapologetically. That affirmed the beauty of our faith.  

To quote Gladys Herdman in her role as the Angel of the Lord: “Hey, unto you a child is born!” Such a simple sentence, yet the world would never be the same. 

Beauty and grit  

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever zooms in on the beauty of the Christmas story, but also the grittiness of it too. The fact that Mary and Joseph were poor, that the barn was dirty, that Jesus came for the rich and poor alike: for the people we like and the people we don’t.  

It gives us the chance to consider the fact that Mary, so often depicted as sweet and pretty, also had to be incredibly tough to give her yes to God to bring Jesus into the world. In fact, the film’s depiction and contemplation of Mary will be especially appealing to Catholic families.   

As the credits rolled, I found myself weeping while several other members of my family had tears in their eyes, in the best of ways. I’m so glad we got to see it, and I know for certain that our family will purchase a copy for our home and that it will move to the top of the list in terms of our Christmas movie traditions from now on.   

Go see this movie. Take your families. Make it a part of your Christmas traditions, both this year and in the years to come. 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever will be in theaters Friday, November 8. It is rated PG. Tickets and group tickets are now available.

Share your thoughts with the Catholic Mom community! You'll find the comment box below the author's bio and list of recommended articles.

Copyright 2024 Lorelei Savaryn
Images: copyright 2024 Allen Fraser for Lionsgate, used with permission, all rights reserved.