This movie had me at “Lauren Graham,” whom I adore from her iconic run as Lorelei Gilmore on Gilmore Girls. Little did I know the actress does not appear until the movie’s epilogue, although her sensitive, reassuring voice narrates the entire film. She is the grown-up Beth Bradley (Molly Belle Wright), a sweet but beleaguered girl tired of being bullied at school by a pack of red-haired tyrants called the Herdmans, “absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world.”
Led by big sister Imogene (Beatrice Schneider), the Herdmans are every teacher’s nightmare—roughians who take pleasure in stealing desserts from kids’ lunches and hurling well-aimed, hard-packed snowballs as soon as adults’ backs are turned. And there’s plenty of snow, as this film was made in Winnipeg, Man., my hometown, which I didn’t know until the credits rolled. Set in a snowy town called Emmanuel, this movie is based on the 1972 classic book of the same name by Barbara Robinson.
Yup, the Herdmans are the worst, but at least they don’t come to church—or at least they didn’t come to church, until they found out there would be free snacks there. The six of them descend like a snarling pack of gap-toothed hyenas on the auditions for the annual Christmas pageant, a legendary affair in Emmanuel that is always run like a well-oiled machine. This year, though, the volunteer director who has run the pageant with an iron fist is sidelined by an injury, at which point Beth’s kind-hearted mother, Grace (Judy Greer) naively offers to take over.
Grace soon finds herself pitted against the church’s most uptight alpha moms, who all want their perfect little cherubs to assume the most beatific roles of Mary, Joseph, and the angels. All the protocols of past years are thrown out the window when the Herdmans stage a hostile takeover of the choicest parts. Imogene, obsessed with the idea of acting and “being someone new,” aggressively casts herself as Mary, much to the horror of said alpha moms. One of her brothers is thrust into the play as Joseph, while other brothers play the shepherds and wise men like gladiators. Little sister Gladys (Kynlee Heiman) becomes the most ferocious, snaggle-toothed, ratty-haired angel of the Lord ever seen in a nativity. (She is totally fantastic.)
The church ladies are aghast, especially when Imogene takes the Lord’s name in vain and burps the baby Jesus quite robustly, reasoning that that’s what she had to do when Gladys was a baby. They want to get rid of the Herdmans and fast, especially since this particular pageant will be the 75th incarnation of the production and there will be out-of-town guests and media attention. Greer is marvelous as Grace, a 1970s stay-at-home mom totally out of her depth with chaotic rehearsals, no end of Herdman drama, and catty posturing from the other moms. But she lives up to her character’s name as she begins to care for the unruly children and defend them against those who would throw them out of the church without a second glance. Jesus came for the Herdmans, too, she reasons, even though few agree with her on that point.
Directed by Dallas Jenkins (The Chosen), this movie winsomely tells the Christmas story in a way that highlights how Jesus came for outcasts and sinners, even seemingly feral children such as the Herdmans.
Greer is warm and witty, and Heiman as Gladys is adorably ratty and loud, but it is Schneider’s performance that will get under the viewer’s skin in a way that might surprise them. As she gradually yields to the care offered by Grace and a few others at the church, Imogene begins to soak in the truth of who Mary was and therefore who Jesus was and why he came to earth as a baby. Maybe, just maybe, he even came for someone like Imogene Herdman, someone with a rock-hard shell but a tender soul. Viewers might come to this movie for a particular actor like I did, or for the nostalgic, Christmas-y feelings. But this movie’s staying power lies in its ability to make its viewers see the nativity with fresh eyes, and then, like Imogene, be transformed into someone new. (Lionsgate, Rated PG. Streaming on Apple TV+, Amazon Prime, and other platforms)