A Faustian bargain for a neighborhood Christmas decoration contest
In short: What would you sacrifice to win the ultimate holiday trophy? In this 2023 fantasy comedy, a desperate marketer signs a literal devil's contract with a wicked elf. The result is a surreal nightmare where nursery rhymes come to life as physical threats.
The film follows Chris Carver, a laid-off corporate marketer who enters a high-stakes competition hosted by Prism Cable for a $100,000 prize. Driven by envy of his neighbor Bruce—who wins using cheap inflatables—Chris visits 'Kringle's', a mysterious shop owned by an evil elf named Pepper. Having overlooked the small text on a bill, Chris obtains a 'The Twelve Days of Christmas' themed zoetrope shaped like a tree. This transaction initiates a Faustian pact: entities such as six geese and seven swans emerge from the nursery rhyme visuals into the physical world.
To break the curse before 8 p.m. on Christmas Eve, Chris must collect five golden rings held by these animated decorations or risk being transformed into a glass figurine himself. The narrative takes a surrealist turn as the family faces off against 'eight maids milking' and 'ten lords leaping.' While the film explores themes of parental pressure—highlighted by Chris's daughter Joy accusing him of prioritizing Christmas over her own life—it also leans into slapstick absurdity, featuring a psychotic elf and bizarre dialogue like 'This chicken is trippin'.
The resolution hinges on a literal interpretation of the song: because 'five golden rings' is repeated eight times in the lyrics, Chris actually needs 40 rings. He eventually secures the final count using his own wedding rings to save himself from becoming a permanent ornament. While critics have polarized over its 'anything-goes surrealist' style and uneven pacing, the film stands as a modern example of holiday cinema pushing into bizarre, high-concept territory.
The production involved a three-film deal between Eddie Murphy and Amazon Prime Video, with principal photography occurring in Los Angeles from December 2022 to February 2023. Despite its whimsical premise, the shoot was marked by a serious injury to actor Jon Farhat in March 2023 due to severe weather.
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- Summary by Intellect · source: Candy Cane Lane (film)
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