"A Christmas Story Christmas" eventually hooks viewers by unexpectedly redirecting its focus.

| Oct 26, 2023

A toasty, mild, and middling look back at a classic title being passed from one generation to the next.

| Original Score: 5/10 | Feb 22, 2023

What's great is seeing Billingsley play the same role as an adult that he played as a kid.

| Original Score: B | Dec 28, 2022

It's a sweet and sentimental sequel that lacks the rebellious spark of 1983's A Christmas Story, but still has enough charm, despite some awkward handling of serious issues. Ralph Parker now has a midlife crisis and grief over the death of his father.

| Dec 25, 2022

This is a Christmas movie that acts as a tribute to its classic predecessor and allows audiences to revisit cherished characters. During the holidays, sometimes seeing old friends and family is all that matters, right?

Full Review | Dec 24, 2022

Watch and enjoy, but don’t expect something as brilliant as “A Christmas Story.” That’s a classic that deserves to be on a loop. This is just a quick little visit from friends.

| Original Score: 2.5/4 | Dec 16, 2022

Returning star/producer Peter Billingsley managed to put a good foot forward and deliver a sweet, simple film that does enough to honor the original while carving its own path.

| Original Score: 6/10 | Dec 14, 2022

The original conveyed the magic of Christmas through the wide-eyed wonder of childhood. The sequel has its entertaining moments, but most hinge on understanding their relationship to the original.

| Original Score: 2/4 | Dec 10, 2022

Those simply in the mood for a holiday flick, will enjoy A Christmas Story Christmas for the light, nicely touching tale that it is in its own right, without the pressure of having to be as perfect as something as legendary as the leg lamp.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 30, 2022

It’s cute. It’s not nearly as shameless as you’d maybe expect something like this to be, but it’s also the exact kind of nostalgia play a sequel to A Christmas Story made in 2022 would be.

| Nov 30, 2022

Like its predecessor, it is enjoyably episodic, jumping from one comic vignette to another. Some of these connect, while others land with a thud. But so it goes with Christmas. Not every present is a winner.

| Nov 25, 2022

I wanted desperately to love "A Christmas Story Christmas," but it runs out of gas quickly, burning only on nostalgia alone.

| Original Score: C | Nov 24, 2022

Goes to show that when it comes to reasons to make a sequel to a beloved classic movie, “nostalgia” should never top the list.

| Nov 23, 2022

A Christmas Story Christmas brings a healthy dose of nostalgia, sprinkled with both comedic and sentimental moments that fans of the original can appreciate.

| Original Score: 7/10 | Nov 23, 2022

The stretches where the film isn’t aggressively reminding you of its predecessor are likable, even charming at times.

| Nov 23, 2022

A Christmas Story Christmas recycles elements of the original in ways that are occasionally clever but mostly uninspired. What works best is the new plot, which proves more heartfelt than super-sad, and deploys some familiar characters in new ways.

| Nov 22, 2022

Kaytis (who also directed) knew exactly what audiences would want in a follow-up to a beloved 39-year-old Christmas film. He stuck the landing, thanks mostly to avoiding common pitfalls and Billingsley's heavy lifting.

| Nov 21, 2022

...I think people of our generation who grew up with that movie [A Christmas Story] and have kids of our own know what this feeling is like. The sequel has that tone, that irreverent sensibility, it has the narration and daydreaming sequences...

| Original Score: 3/5 | Nov 19, 2022

Endearing sweet and a worthy successor to the original classic

| Nov 19, 2022

There are problems with 1973 authenticity and Julia Hagerty's casting as Mom, but the film gratefully had a grasp on what made the original so popular, never to be overly sentimental. They went for something different, & that’s saying a lot. Fra-gee-lee!

| Original Score: 3.5/5 | Nov 19, 2022