''8-Bit Christmas'' is a 2021 American

Christmas Christmas is an annual festival commemorating Nativity of Jesus, the birth of Jesus Christ, observed primarily on December 25 as a Religion, religious and Culture, cultural celebration among billions of people Observance of Christmas by coun ...

comedy film The comedy film is a film genre that emphasizes humor. These films are designed to amuse audiences and make them laugh. Films in this genre typically have a happy ending, with dark comedy being an exception to this rule. Comedy is one of the o ...

directed by

Michael Dowse Michael Dowse (born April 19, 1973) is a Canadian director. Life and career Born in London, Ontario, to Irish parents, he was trained as a film editor. His first full-length movie, ''FUBAR'' was shot on a digital camera with a tiny budget, but w ...

, from a screenplay by Kevin Jakubowski based upon his novel of the same name. It stars

Neil Patrick Harris Neil Patrick Harris (born June 15, 1973) is an American actor, singer, writer, producer, and television host. Primarily known for his comedic television roles and dramatic and musical stage roles, he has received List of awards and nominations ...

, Winslow Fegley,

June Diane Raphael June Diane Raphael ( ; born January 4, 1980) is an American actress, comedian, and screenwriter. She has starred in TV comedy programs ''Burning Love'', Adult Swim's '' NTSF:SD:SUV::'', and ''Grace and Frankie''. Notable film work includes suppo ...

David Cross David Cross (born April 4, 1964) is an American stand-up comedian, actor, writer, and director. Cross is best known for his stand-up performances, the HBO sketch comedy series '' Mr. Show with Bob and David'' (1995–1998), his role as Ian Hawk ...

, and

Steve Zahn Steven James Zahn ( ; born November 13, 1967) is an American actor. In film, Zahn is best known for his lead roles in '' That Thing You Do!'' (1996), '' Happy, Texas'' (1999), '' Joy Ride'' (2001), ''National Security'' (2003), '' A Perfect Geta ...

. The film was released on November 24, 2021, on

HBO Max Max (known in other countries as, and soon to be reverted globally to HBO Max) is an American subscription video on-demand over-the-top streaming service. It is a proprietary unit of Warner Bros. Discovery Streaming on behalf of Home Box Of ...

, receiving generally favorable reviews from critics.

Plot

In December 2021, Jake Doyle recounts his Christmas of 1988 when all he wanted was a

Nintendo Entertainment System The Nintendo Entertainment System (NES) is an 8-bit home video game console developed and marketed by Nintendo. It was first released in Japan on 15 July 1983 as the and was later released as the redesigned NES in several test markets in the ...

, to his daughter, Annie, who wants a cell phone for Christmas but can’t. Timothy Keane, the richest kid in Jake's grade, is the only kid in town with a Nintendo and all the latest accessories. Every day, Jake and his friends gather with the rest of the school outside of Timmy's house, where he chooses ten kids to play with him in his basement. Tired of pandering to Timmy for access to the coveted Nintendo, Jake dreams of getting his own for Christmas. He requests it from his distracted schoolteacher mom, Kathy, and his DIY-obsessed dad, John, only to be denied on the basis that video games are bad for his brain and that he should play outside more. Jake's desire for a Nintendo intensifies after Timmy destroys his TV and seriously injures his family's dog out of anger after losing a game to the failing Nintendo accessory, the

Power Glove The Power Glove is a controller accessory for the Nintendo Entertainment System. The Power Glove gained public attention due to its early motion control mechanics and significant marketing. However, its two games did not sell well, as it was ...

. Hearing that the first prize of a Scout fundraiser for selling the most Christmas wreaths will be a Nintendo, Jake and his friends compete to win the system. Jake's sister Lizzy has her own desired gift, a

Cabbage Patch Kids Cabbage Patch Kids are a line of cloth dolls with plastic heads first produced by Coleco Industries in 1982. They were inspired by the Little People soft sculptured dolls sold by Xavier Roberts as collectibles. The brand was renamed 'Cabbage ...

doll, and in exchange for tips on selling wreaths, Jake agrees to drop hints on her behalf. After finding that all Cabbage Patch Kids are sold out, Jake accompanies John to a back alley deal to buy a doll. Jake wins the fundraiser, only to discover that the prize was swapped out to an encyclopedia set after Timmy's father convinced the community to ban video games due to the Nintendo causing their dog to be injured. Jake and his friends decide to take matters into their own hands, selling baseball cards (including a rare Bill Ripken card) to pool their money and buy a system to share. Without a ride to the mall, they concoct an elaborate plan to sneak away to the mall and make their purchase during a school trip. Evan Olsen creates a distraction while Jake infiltrates the mall, evading his friends' parents who are protesting video games in front of the game store and successfully buying the Nintendo. Once he returns, though, he trips, dropping the Nintendo which is crushed by the school bus as it drives away. The Cabbage Patch dealer from earlier helps Jake return to his field trip and advises him to focus less on presents and more on the spirit of giving. Christmas Day comes, and Jake does not receive a Nintendo, as his gift addressed from his crazy rich Uncle Dan in

Japan Japan is an island country in East Asia. Located in the Pacific Ocean off the northeast coast of the Asia, Asian mainland, it is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan and extends from the Sea of Okhotsk in the north to the East China Sea ...

, instead received a box of Japanese

Lite-Brite Lite-Brite is a toy that was originally marketed in 1967. It consists of a light box with small colored plastic pegs that fit into a panel and illuminate to create a lit picture, by either using one of the included templates or creating a "freef ...

, which led to Jake to believe that Christmas was dead to him. John later surprises Jake with a backyard tree fort he made himself. Although Jake never got a Nintendo for Christmas, in retrospect he determined that the tree fort and his father's love for him was a better gift. In the present, Jake tells his daughter he eventually bought his own Nintendo after working all summer to earn one. He then shows her the tree fort, which remains standing, and reminisces about all the good memories and adventures he gained from his father's gift. The two join the rest of Jake's family for dinner, aside from John who has died, yet they all still save an empty seat for him at the dinner table.

Cast

* Winslow Fegley as Young Jake Doyle **

as Adult Jake Doyle *

Sophia Reid-Gantzert Sophia Reid-Gantzert (born January 18, 2010) is a Canadian actress and dancer. She began dancing at age two and won a competition in Austria at age six. In 2017, she made her acting debut in the television film ''The Sweetest Christmas''. Reid-G ...

as Annie Doyle, Jake's daughter *

as Kathy Doyle, Jake's mother *

as John Doyle, Jake's father * Bellaluna Resnick as Lizzy Doyle, Jake's sister * Che Tafari as Mikey Trotter, one of young Jake's friends * Santino Barnard as Evan Olsen, one of young Jake's friends who is allergic to bees and

SpaghettiOs SpaghettiOs is an American brand of canned ring-shaped pasta in tomato sauce. It is marketed for children as "less messy" than regular spaghetti. More than 150 million cans of SpaghettiOs are sold each year. SpaghettiOs are sold in tomato sauce a ...

* Max Malas as Jeff Farmer, a kid in Jake's circle but not one of his friends and a pathological liar * Brielle Rankins as Tammy Hodges, one of young Jake's friends who collects baseball cards, she is also Teddy's twin sister *

Cyrus Arnold Cyrus Arnold (born January 2, 2003) is an American actor. He began his career as a child actor, primarily guest-starring on various television programs, including playing BJ Malloy on the Nickelodeon sitcom '' Sam & Cat'' (2013–2014), before bei ...

as Josh Jagorski, an oversized school bully * Braelyn Rankins as Teddy Hodges, one of young Jake's friends and Tammy's twin brother * Chandler Dean as Timmy Keane, a narcissistic rich kid who owns a Nintendo (NES) system and likes showing-off * Katia Smith as Tiffany Keane, Timmy's sister * Jacob Laval as Connor Stump * Tom Rooney as Dr. Timothy Keane Sr., Timmy's father who is an anti-video game advocate *

as Dealer

Production

In March 2021, it was announced

, Winslow Fegley,

, and

had joined the cast of the film, with

directing from a screenplay by its author and executive producer Kevin Jakubowski, which appeared on the 2019 Black List.

New Line Cinema New Line Productions, Inc., Trade name, doing business as New Line Cinema, is an American film production, film and television production company that is a subsidiary of Warner Bros. Motion Picture Group, a division of the Major film studios, ...

and Star Thrower Entertainment produced the film, with

distributing. Principal photography began in March 2021, in

Toronto, Canada Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Release

The film was digitally released on November 24, 2021, on

. It was released on DVD on October 18, 2022.

Reception

review aggregator A review aggregator is a system that collects reviews and ratings of products and services, such as films, books, video games, music, software, hardware, or cars. This system then stores the reviews to be used for supporting a website where user ...

website

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

, the film holds an approval rating of 84% based on 31 reviews, with an average rating of 7/10. The website's critics consensus reads, "For viewers seeking an undemanding and sweetly nostalgic ode to yuletide seasons past, ''8-Bit Christmas'' boots up without a glitch."

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

, which uses a weighted average, assigned a score of 66 out of 100 based on five critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews. Nick Ordoña of the ''

Los Angeles Times The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

'' praised the casting, directing, and Jakubowski's writing, summarizing: "It even earns its heart-tugging ending. In short, it's a surprise contender for Best Christmas Movie of the last several years." Calum Marsh of ''

The New York Times ''The New York Times'' (''NYT'') is an American daily newspaper based in New York City. ''The New York Times'' covers domestic, national, and international news, and publishes opinion pieces, investigative reports, and reviews. As one of ...

'' wrote: "When it isn't fawning over roller rinks, '' Goonies'' posters, and

Casio is a Japanese multinational electronics manufacturing corporation headquartered in Shibuya, Tokyo, Japan. Its products include calculators, mobile phones, digital cameras, electronic musical instruments, and analogue and digital watches. It ...

watches, ''8 Bit Christmas'' is a warm and refreshingly earnest holiday comedy."

References

External links

''8-Bit Christmas''
on

* {{Max (streaming service) American Christmas comedy films Films shot in Toronto HBO Max films Warner Bros. films New Line Cinema films American children's comedy films Films about video games Films directed by Michael Dowse Films set in 1988 Films scored by Joseph Trapanese 2021 comedy films 2021 films 2020s Christmas comedy films 2020s English-language films Films set in Chicago 2020s American films English-language Christmas comedy films Films produced by Tim White (American producer) Films produced by Trevor White (producer)