Christmas Again (2021 TV Movie) User Reviews

Could have been so much better.

[DarkVulcan29 · 6/10 · 13 December 2021]

There have been two other movies about being in a time loop on Christmas. So this movie falls short of being original.

Christmas morning is here, When 11 year old Rowena(Scarlett Estevez) has a mishap of a holiday, and wishes she could do it over, a mall santa grants her wish. When she gets stuck in the time loop, Rowena decides to milk it for what it's worth, but will she discover the true meaning of Christmas during that?

Scarlett Estevez starts out annoying. But she gets better has the movie goes on, but the problem here is too much of the movie was put on her to carry by herself. And that is where it got uninteresting, cause most of the other actors don't really grab you, there just kind of there. Even the two Home Alone movies Culkin didn't carry those films by himself. Some of the jokes don't quite land. Scarlett Estevez is a charming actress, and she does make this somewhat watchable, but other than that, the movie itself is just alright.

Had potential but started from a flawed premise.

[jerryjak · 5/10 · 21 December 2021]

My BIGGEST issue with this movie is that when it all starts, you have sympathy for Ro, unlike "Groundhog Day" where our hero starts off as a jerk.

1. New bratty, soon to be, brother scares her out of bed causing her to ruin a computer and break her nutcracker figure.

2. Dad's fiance eats the last chocolate in the Advent calendar, the one RO WAS PROMISED that year.

3. Grandma, grandpa, and keys. Not going into detail, she was being nice picking up the dropped keys.

4. Given wrong gift, not corrected on the spot. THEN dog pees on old glove, thus further ruining everything.

5. Bratty brother CONSTANTLY interrupts her, NO ONE corrects his behavior 6. She just wants 1 thing at this point, to watch the end of a hockey game (a timed event) but at that moment everyone wants to see Uncle's stand-up routine.

7. SISTER throws the dog toy, setting off the chain that breaks the bowl.

At this point RO is blamed everything, is apparently on Santa's naughty list, and get put into the loop. Even though NONE OF IT IS HER FAULT, she still gets the blame. So yeah, I'm with her when she starts abusing the wish.

That's why this movie is so meh. You sympathize with her when you're NOT supposed to. She then forced to come around, eventually does, and saves the day for everyone, including finding mom a possible love interest.

The movie is best summed up when she's sitting on the bed with her sister and they're lamenting about the divorce. The sister asks, "What about mom and dad's feeling?" and Ro fires back, "What about mine?" Yes, what about hers? That's the flaw that prevents the movie from becoming what it could be.

Not super kid friendly

[kimmy852 · 6/10 · 4 December 2021]

They really need to stop putting adult Thames inappropriate in a family kid movie and certain changes ..so I took away points and say was mostly good just not super or fully kid family friendly entertainment thanks try again Disney .

Don't waste any time watching this!

[jamhendr · 2/10 · 9 December 2021]

Look. Groundhog Day is one of my favorite movies. This is a knockoff of it, at Christmas, with less experienced actors.

Every single character in it is clueless or obnoxious, and some are both. It goes on too long, and the music is typical Disney. I could have done without the repeated farting jokes. The 12-year-old protagonist plays hockey against a team of adult men and beats them all without getting hurt; totally believable, right?

I did laugh once, so I guess I can't give it a 1.

A slow start but, surprising

[TheMunkeyBoy · 7/10 · 21 December 2021]

Watched as a family.

Was slow to start. Some obvious similarities to Ground Hog Day and possibly some melodramatic moments but, it ended up being quite charming.

The family ended up really liking it. Even the teenagers.

Christmas Again had been added to the prestigious and very cut-throat list of family Christmas movies .

It's not a 5 Star. It predictable. But it's worth a revisit.

Worst Christmas movie I've watched in a while

[nqxchdrh · 1/10 · 25 December 2021]

Was excited to see the main character as I like the actress from Lucifer but the acting in this was unwatchable and I almost fell asleep twice. Please don't watch this movie.

Rough start but a nice turn-around

[awh-04307 · 7/10 · 25 December 2021]

I'm going to be playing major devils advocate here, so if you don't like that, you can back off and keep scrolling. My mom wanted to watch this because she heard about it from teachers and students since we both work in education. It was just the two of us and I wanted to make her happy. At first, I was thinking I was going to hate this, people are trying to make out the main character as bratty, but not only does her family practically suck, but she gets blamed just for expressing her frustration. When it started going on a loop I was like, dear lord, is this how it's going to go. The black Santa and everyone reviewing this say she needs to change for her family, but here's the problem with that theory, she's a frickin tween. Kids aren't supposed to change for their families especially not after divorce, family is supposed to help them with managing their lives, emotions, and puberty, but bad luck seems to be magnetized to her. However, I was pleasantly surprised to see that it took a twist for her to keep making her interactions better and for her to accomplish everything on her list, later, without spoiling everything, she starts to feel lonely. Thais stands out to me because I'm a huge introvert but I also occasionally want some family and fun Christmas time. Once the film took its time, we got to see different sides of the characters, and it became less frustrating. Also, the gay uncle thing wada welcome progression, but it didn't affect me or the plot in the slightest. It's hard to say if I would recommend or not because I'm not the best audience for it and even though I'm glad I saw it, I probably won't watch it again, with my lol agreeing with me. Overall, if you have a lot of patience and want to see a pleasant turn out, you'll get what you want; and I don't think it will do kids any harm. But everyone else I think needs to keep scrolling through the Disney holiday catalog.

Not a fun Christmas movie

[sandstormink-80185 · 3/10 · 5 December 2021]

Disney's usual trope of awful events in a kids movie.

Doesn't divorced parents and an unhappy child just scream "The most wonderful time of the year"?

Could have been a light-hearted kids festive groundhog day.

The Groundhog Trap

[coffeebot-925-163626 · 7/10 · 27 December 2021]

Hispanic Groundhog Day meets Parent Trap. I like it. Girl from Lucifer shines. Disney needs more Hallmark movies for kids. Not bad for a kid who has to play both Bill Murray and Haley Mills.

Not family fun

[hpcmakeup · 1/10 · 6 December 2021]

This movie is annoying. It's not fun to watch and I have no idea why the uncle doing stand up or the boring makeup tutorial montage was needed. The story is bad and my daughter was bored about a half hour in. Most of all not every Disney movie needs to be about divorce and WOKE. We've canceled Disney Plus and won't watch anymore of the movies.

It's....CHRISTMAS DAY!

[filmbuff-05706 · 10/10 · 25 November 2023]

One of my favorite comedies of all time is Groundhog Day. Christmas Again is a Christmas/Disney take on that plot, and, on its own, it makes for a fantastic TV movie. This is my favorite Disney Channel Original Movie, despite it being a recycled premise.

The plot centers around a girl with a beautiful name, Rowena. (I know that's an odd thing to note, but every time her name was said, I beamed. I love that name now.) Anyways, Scarlett Estevez from Bunk'd plays Rowena. She has a stepmother now and is upset that she has to have to do Christmas differently since her new family is joining them.

After having a horrible Christmas, she tells a Santa that she meets that she "wishes to have her Christmas again!" and wakes up the next morning to find out that Christmas has in fact started over. And it does the next day. And the day after that. And the day after THAT. And the day after....

This annoys Rowena at first (she meant that she wanted Christmas the way it was in the past), but then she finds ways to change up her Christmas, and then she later learns how to use her curse to have a joyful and meaningful Christmas later on.

The highlight of Christmas Again is Scarlett Estevez herself. She does a wonderful job in her role as Rowena and is very convincing when nessacary, such as when she needs to cry near the end.

In fact, I began to watch Bunk'd on Disney Channel if she was in the episode, and I also enjoy later seasons in the series now.

Back to Christmas Again, the movie is also very funny. There are many moments where I laughed out loud. For example, one day to mix up Christmas, Rowena casually goes into the freezer and eats ice cream from the carton and sprays whipping cream in her mouth as her family stares in shock and horror.

Apart from how well acted and entertaining the movie is, there is not much else I can say to highly praise the movie without spoilers. The movie was simple yet entertaining, and even touching.

If I had to criticize anything about it, it would be that the plot IS recycled, not only from Groundhog Day, but with Pete's Christmas with Zachary Gordon of Diary of a Wimpy Kid. That said, Christmas Again actually takes a spin on it, and makes the repeated holiday a wish, not just a curse. Therefore, I don't count that as a flaw.

Christmas Again is a wonderful holiday movie, and it even made my top 10 favorite holiday movies. I hope it will be released on DVD one day- 2 years have passed and it hasn't happened yet. In those 2 years as of now, I've seen it 4 times.

Not all Disney Channel movies make it to DVD, but Christmas Again should be an exception. This is a festive film that deserves to be cherished again, and again, and again.

*Edited from my review posted on 12/4/22.*

Similar stuff again but why not?

[mryouh · 6/10 · 6 December 2021]

Seriously, how can someone rate it 1/10? Is it really worst of the worst or you just don't know how to use scoring system?

We have seen some of these ideas again, but still this isn't bad movie for Christmas - I thing it deserve 5-6 and rates below 5 are unfair in my opinion.

Watch it, make your own opinion and ignore 1/10 because these ratings are dumb.

This movie will make you cancel Disney Plus

[trevorhmurray · 1/10 · 12 December 2021]

This is the movie that will make you cancel your Disney Plus subscription. It is just bad! I sat through it to see if it could get worse and well it did. It makes me wonder who green lights these projects and how much egg nog they consume before doing so. If you can have one thing for Christmas this year this is not it.

Honestly I was just bored

[mattsc-561-476990 · 4/10 · 10 December 2021]

This is getting 4 stars solely because something hooked me long enough to watch an hour of this train wreck. Also is it just me or is the main character way to mean bratty in the beginning. I mean yes I know she's our main character and will learn lesson along the way but the first Christmas, before the loop, she was just a straight up jerk, that's just my opinion tho.

Christmas on a loop...

[paul_haakonsen · 6/10 · 9 December 2021]

What do you get it you take a classic movie like the 1993 movie "Groundhog Day", spice it up with Christmas and add a pinch of Disney magic? Well, you get "Christmas Again". Yeah, that was essentially all that could be required to summarize this 2021 Christmas movie. But let's add a bit more, shall we?

Writer Doan La managed to put together a nice enough storyline for director Andy Fickman to make a movie from. However, the movie does borrow heavily from "Groundhog Day", and on that account then "Christmas Again" actually start to feel somewhat unoriginal, despite it being glaced up with a Christmas apparrel.

Sure, the storyline told in "Christmas Again" was fair enough and the movie was watchable, but "Christmas Again" had that particular vibe of a-movie-you-will-watch-once-and-probably-never-again feel to it. Hate to say so, but that is the sensation I was left with once the movie came to an end.

The acting performances in "Christmas Again" were fair. And Scarlett Estevez actually carried the movie quite well. I can't really claim that I was familiar with anyone on the cast list here, which is something I do enjoy in movies. The actors and actresses participating in the movie definitely did good jobs.

"Christmas Again" is not your average sappy romantic Christmas movie, so it was a nice break away from the archetypical Christmas cheese.

My rating of "Christmas Again" lands on a six out of ten stars, as it is an entertaining storyline. Just a shame that it was somewhat unoriginal.

Time loop Christmas movie, it can't fail, right?

[lukathehunter · 2/10 · 25 November 2023]

...wrong!

This holiday tragedy is hardly watchable. On paper it sounds amazing; Christmas day over and over again in a loop. So many possibilities to develop screenplay (drama? More towards comedy? Or as here - neither), characters, story and yet... Nothing.

The movie felt like 1.5h long commercial, it's poorly acted for the most part (Beth Lacke was the only one who did her role believable) and most roles were poorly cast. Each scene feels emotionless, artificial and overblown with many dialogues and monologues (oh my, the wannabe comedian...) adding next to nothing, not even much sense. At time I felt embarrassed by what I was watching.

Sadly, a fantastic potential was done as semi-amateur school project but hey, doesn't matter if the movie is bad, at least it ticks all the modern agenda check-boxes ;)

Avoid, I've suffered through it so that you don't have to.

happy groundhog christmas...

[ops-52535 · 6/10 · 6 December 2021]

Or should i say merry as the americans, anyway, disney beats the yule-drum again, a butterworth cliched x-mas movie of the very best of traditions, and may resemble loads of peoples own wishes for the holiday season. The cast is chosen from disney channels own kiddo staff, and they are as usual polished and trained for the task, even the adults do the skits very well themselves, and as usual the decoration department has fluffed and illuminated the sets like never before...

but the story and message, well ive seen better and loats of worse, so i think tha average x-mas movie lover will cram this one to the heart. Its witty, funny even, but also sentimental.had a few laughs at the boiling point, but there couldve been more. But as the message of the film says, beware what you wish for, i couldnt have said it better my selg.a small recommend from the grumpy old man.

Could not finish it

[sfriedman-09243 · 2/10 · 20 December 2023]

In the vein of Groundhog day, except perhaps the world's most self centered and obnoxious pre-teen relives Christmas in a self centered and obnoxious way. Presumably she figures it out by the end, but who cares. A terrible movie. Had to stop halfway through. Disney has nothing to offer in this movie. There really doesn't appear to be many redeeming characters for this snotty pre teen. Why anyone would want to watch her either solo, as a couple, or in a family setting is beyond me. Disney has really gone downhill for pre-teen and early teen live dramedy since the early 2000s. The fact that any kids like this is sad.

Great family values movie

[sunsetwaterfall · 7/10 · 11 December 2021]

In the end, it's love that matters. Uncle Jerry was the best! Suitable for the whole family. Good wholesome movie, that proves love is love. Very cute movie.

Terrible and woke

[nrlstats · 1/10 · 25 December 2021]

Please stop Disney, no one has a problem with minorities in movies but removing white people and adding a black Santa because reasons. The acting is woeful, the story is predictable and worse of all it's boring. Take your kids out for family picnic and avoid this.

Great xMas Family Movie for Young & Young at Heart.

[balenzuela · 10/10 · 3 December 2021]

The de-facto introduction first 18mins was dryer than bake-on Christmas day kale cookie not bitten-on until stale on Valentine's Day. I was hopeful that Scarlett Estevez would inspire great writing like that seen in previous work, a personnel fav but different center of target audience Lucifer show. Writers Sam Hollander, Josh Edmondson, Charity Daw did not disappoint. The extra written and visual details make Christmas Again fun to watch again and again.

This is a TV-G (9-14yr Olds) xMas family movie comedy think; Ground hog day, Parent trap, Scrooge. Seen from an 12yr old's perspective, as she struggles balancing the mindfulness concept of remembering the past but not living in the past, making room for the new during the present moments of life, and personal growth.

Some of the diverse world we live in issues touched on may not be present in your immediate household but are most like present in the 50-mile radius you live, school, or work in.

Subjects for Family Screening Consideration: Divorce, Remarriage, Mixed Race Marriage, Multiple Languages, Gay Uncles.

Snack Tips: Hot Coco, Bread Pudding. Kale Cookies (Of which i am personally not there yet. Guess i still have room for some personal growth of my own, LOL.)

The movie "Christmas Again" was a joy for me to watch, Again and Again.

Think of Bill Murray's Groundhog Day meets Christmas Do Over

[lisafordeay · 6/10 · 12 December 2021]

Christmas Again is a 2021 DCOM festive comedy about a young girl named Rowena who lives with her Latina family. When Christmas Day turns out to be a pure disaster,Rowena wishes that things were the way they were resulting in Rowena to relieve Christmas Day over and over again. Will she be able to stay in the same time frame or will it just keep repeating forever?

Overall I enjoyed this film. It was nice to see Priscella Lopez again(she played Jennifer Lopez 's strict mother in Maid In Manhattan(2002),and here she played Rowena's grandmother). Another thing was the director of this also directed She's The Man.

If you love Groundhog Day and Christmas Do Over then do watch it.

Same story worst acting

[bareth-51861 · 4/10 · 25 December 2021]

The acting was poor and the story is a tale as old as time for me much prefer Petes Christmas what was extremely similar. It offers very little new to the discussion which is deeply disappointing.

kiddie Groundhog Day Christmas

[SnoopyStyle · 5/10 · 23 December 2023]

In Chicago, Rowena Clybourne (Scarlett Estevez) is a 12 year old with large expectations from her yearly Christmas family celebrations. None of it goes off as planned and she has a terrible time. She storms out and runs into Santa in front of her house. He gets her to wish for a Christmas do-over.

As a concept, I have no problems with a kiddie Groundhog Day Christmas. I'm sure that Scarlett Estevez is or will be a solid Disney TV star. They try out a lot of stories, but it runs out of steam pretty quickly. I like the bully story most of all but I don't like the resolution. There is too much and not enough. It needs a big overarching story. Groundhog Day has the love story to finish it off. This one struggles to find that story.

We've all seen this before but. . .

[SuspiciousDogo · 7/10 · 30 December 2021]

Yes there are several of these time loop movies. Groundhog Day, Christmas Every Day, even a Donald Duck spin off if I'm not mistaken. But that's the thing - when watching these films you know exactly what you're getting yourself into.

The actors in this are quite entertaining. The main character is likeable enough to enjoy the film. But in some ways the cast became confusing to the narrative. There were too many dynamics to keep up with at the start. Eventually though I think I got the hang of it (still not 100% sure which side of the family the uncles are from).

I think the whole divorced parent's take was an interesting direction. The problem was that the adults were way too happy around each other to be entirely believable. (Which added to the initial confusion as to who was who). It also could've given us more emotional investment in the plot when Ro is intent on reuniting her biological parent's back together. In the end though she does learn an important life lesson - that sometimes you can't make people fall in love again. Especially since the divorce was due to lots of fights between the former spouses.

The movie was already packed out in terms of scenes, but I still think it's a shame the other family members didn't get to have more development, other than superficial wants or desires. Instead the focus is geared towards people outside of her home (when it's not on her or her parents) and at the end they're all drawn into the house to celebrate Christmas together. Don't get me wrong it's a nice moment and feels good while watching it. I'm just being nit picky now.

If Disney ever writes another one like this - they can feel free to approach me, I'll read the script for free and give some feedback they'd like.

All in all, sarcasm aside, the whole family enjoyed this movie. So, I'll just pack up my soapbox and go along to some other movie that needs a review now.