“It was insanely surreal because it was 29 degrees in August but it was snowing”: Asa Butterfield, Cora Kirk and Daniel Mays on Your Christmas or Mine?
Almost 20 years on from Love Actually (yes, that makes this writer feel old too), we were about ready for a quintessentially British Christmas romcom to hit our screens and join the canon of favourite-ever festive watches. Thankfully, there’s been an influx this year of solid contenders, among them the heartwarming Your Christmas or Mine?, pairing Sex Education‘s Asa Butterfield with newcomer Cora Kirk as James and Hayley, written by Tom Parry in his featured debut and directed by Jim O’Hanlon. The two uni lovebirds are heading home for the holidays, but saddened by the prospect of being apart, they decide to jump on a train to each other’s houses, not realising they are in fact going in opposite directions. And so ensues a comical swap, Hayley’s characters bustling Northern family all fun and games and garish Christmas jumpers crowded round the dinner table, James’s an austere affair where fun goes to die in a huge stately home. To add another layer of awkwardness, secrets each were holding from the other are rudely revealed.
It’s all of course awfully silly but nonetheless incredibly cheering, and the action and humour are kept at a simmer by the fantastic cast of household names including Daniel Mays as Hayley’s father, coupled once again with Angela Griffin as they were brilliantly in White Lines, while James’s family has the ultimate posh Brits filling his place in the form of Alex Jennings and Harriet Walters (Butterfield apparently had to “posh-up” his accent to keep up with them). Running jokes involve a gilet and an ice cream van selling meat.
But the movie’s inspired trick is also to balance its levity with genuinely affecting moments, bringing to the fore that often Christmas time can be difficult for those who have lost loved ones, the expectation for the pinnacle of happiness and joy and endless smiles to be the norm a pin prick into the cloud of grief that can settle over such proceedings, perhaps never fully fading. It also gives nods to the full spectrum of British society in all its diversity, with a central message that it doesn’t really matter what your Christmas looks like or the budget you have to celebrate it, who you are with is what really matters, traditional family or found.
The Upcoming had the pleasure of chatting with the film’s stars, Butterfield and Kirk, ahead of it landing on Prime Video. We discussed their favourite holiday movies, the fun they had on the shoot alongside a stellar cast and the joy of leaning into their opposite characters with contrasting accents and backgrounds.
We also spoke to the brilliant Daniel Mays about whether a Christmas flick was ever on his bucket list, the appeal of Tom Parry’s script and the fun he had on set, pretending it was mid-winter in mid-summer.
Sarah Bradbury
Your Christmas or Mine? is released on Amazon Prime Video on 2nd December 2022. Read our review here.
Watch the trailer for Your Christmas or Mine? here:
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