A little bit of information: Saint Nicolas is a (soon to be cancelled) Dutch holiday on the 5th of December. It's a holiday of gifts, usually wrapped up in a special DIY package, made by the do-gooder, which requires much more time and effort than the present it's holding. And it requires a poem about the recipient, in which the recipient is ridiculed for antics that he or she did during the year.
The holiday has more in common with the German holiday of Krampus (Saint Nicolas' stark contrast companion).
The movie is true to Dutch tradition in holiday as in movie making, and a soothing sight to my sore eyes because as a kid, Saint Nicolas scared the cr*p out of me and was relieved the director saw the creepy potential this holiday holds.
Especially the racing across the rooftops of Amsterdam was one of my reoccurring nightmares.
If you ever had doubts about the sanity of the Dutch, this is a movie to push you to certainty !
PS The BLM movement is very vocal about the blackface tradition that this holiday includes, and divides parts of the country by pro and anti.
PS The BLM movement is very vocal about the blackface tradition that this holiday includes, and divides parts of the country by pro and anti.