Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Christmas as Usual’ on Netflix, in Which Indian and Norwegian Cultures Clash During Christmastime

Netflix is expanding its slate of original seasonal titles with Christmas as Usual. This Norwegian movie, which is apparently based on a true story, stars Kanan Gill and Ida Ursin-Holm and takes viewers halfway across the world on a journey that blends Norwegian and Indian cultures during the holiday season. But is this a movie that makes sense coming out now in 2023, or is it a story that would have been more impactful if it were told years ago? Read on to find out.

CHRISTMAS AS USUAL: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Indian expat Jashan (Kanan Gill) and his Norwegian girlfriend Thea Evjen (Ida Ursin-Holm) recently moved into an apartment together in California. They’ve been dating for less than a year, but Jashan doesn’t let that stop him from proposing to Thea. Sure, he doesn’t know her middle name and he’s never met her family, but “when you know, you know.” Thea says yes and decides to bring him home to Norway for Christmas to meet her mom Anne-Lise (Marit Andreassen), brother Simen (Erik Follestad), sister-in-law Hildegunn (Veslemøy Mørkrid), and niece Ronja (Matilde Hovdegard).

The problem, however, is that Thea has never told her family that Jashan is Indian. In fact, she has been referring to him as “Josh,” so when they arrive at her rural and very homogenous hometown, both Jashan and Thea’s family are pretty blindsided. While Jashan takes it all in stride and tries his best to get the Evjens to like him by earnestly trying all of the local Norwegian Christmas traditions, Thea’s family is anything but welcoming or accepting. Anne-Lise in particular is extremely passive-aggressive and still wants Thea to get back with her ex, Jørgen (Mads Sjøgård Pettersen), who of course just happens to live next door. With that much to deal with, how the heck are Thea and Jashan supposed to break the news of their engagement?

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: It’s very much like Happiest Season with a dash of Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner.

Performance Worth Watching: Kanan Gill is funny, likable, and charismatic as Jashan. I mean, the guy jumped into icy water and suffered on the slopes for this. Now that’s commitment!

Memorable Dialogue: Thea really could have done a better job explaining Norwegian Christmas traditions to poor Jashan before he came all the way to the country, jeez. How was he supposed to know about Teeny Tiny Christmas?!

“It’s just that it’s December 22nd.”

“Yes, it is.”

“It’s… it’s bitte lille julaften. It’s, um… it’s Teeny Tiny Christmas.”

“What is Teeny Tiny Christmas?”

“It’s the day before the day before the big day, and it’s sort of like a big deal in our family.”

“I thought the big day was December 25th.”

“I told you. In Norway, it’s 24th.”

“So there’s a teeny day before a tiny day before the big day, which is before December 25th?”

“Yeah.”

Honorable mentions for “Norwegians are a very accepting people. Just not at Christmas” and “There’s great Indian food at the Chinese restaurant in town.”

A Holiday Tradition: Thea’s family has a long-running tradition of wearing knitted sweaters for the holiday season. Which honestly seems like a necessity in that snowy Norwegian tundra! They also have a family tradition of making Christmas decorations to put on the mantle every year, and another tradition of celebrating “Teeny Tiny Christmas” with a special meatball dinner (not curry, as Jashan finds out the hard way). And there are many Norwegian holiday traditions in this movie where that came from.

Does the Title Make Any Sense?: It does in an ironic sort of way, because obviously, this particular Christmas is anything but “usual” for either Thea’s family or Jashan.

Our Take: Christmas as Usual definitely stirs up some conflicting feelings and thoughts for me. On the positive side, the food, sets, and Norwegian landscapes are utterly gorgeous as captured through some truly beautiful feats of cinematography. When things were good between Thea and Jashan, they really did seem like a great and happy couple. And the overall impression of a Norwegian Christmas (sans hostility and awkwardness) was a warm and comfortable one.

But while at its best, Norwegian Christmas looked very cozy, the more sinister underbelly was that at its worst it seemed outright racist (case in point: Anne-Lise’s spice cabinet). I don’t know if it’s because this movie takes place in a small town that’s probably totally lacking in diversity but man it doesn’t exactly paint the country in the best light if you’re anything but white and hoping to visit. Also because there were some genuinely cute and heartfelt moments between Jashan and Thea, it made the rough parts that much more jarring and disappointing.

So while Christmas as Usual has a sweet beginning and ending for its central couple, the very long in-between period where Jashan is being treated like crap by Thea’s family and ex while she essentially just lets it happen is too much to forgive or forget. Like we never even heard Anne-Lise directly apologize to Jashan, and boy was there a lot she had to be sorry for. She was so racially insensitive that even her dog started replicating the behavior and was immediately hostile towards Jashan. She kept getting Jashan’s name wrong on purpose (she fricking called him “Shazam”). And her pushing smarmy Jørgen onto Thea all these years later to the point where there’s even still a picture of the two of them hanging up in the house? It just doesn’t sit right at all.

Anne-Lise was a literal villain throughout this entire movie, there’s definitely no denying that (and no “one year later” happy dancing epilogue is enough to absolve her of her sins, in my opinion). But Thea’s behavior, namely her lack of understanding and communication towards Jashan, was really saddening to see. Not only did she let Jashan walk unprepared into an uncomfortable situation, but she also never informed him about her five year (!!!) relationship with “the boy next door” Jørgen (who is obviously still into her), and she continues to feel embarrassed by him at his every little faux-pas.

Look, I get that trying to blend very different cultures and people has to be very stressful, especially during the first holiday season for her family without her dad alive. Jashan also admittedly does do a few things that make for some uncomfy moments, like getting wasted during Christmas Eve dinner or interrupting Ronja’s big choir solo with a loud phone call. And perhaps they may have rushed in their relationship a bit too quickly. But in the end, Thea still chose to say yes, and the fact that she felt like she had to hide Jashan’s race and even his full name from her loved ones says a lot about both her family and herself. Is Norway really that behind right now in the Year of Our Lord 2023? Or maybe Christmas as Usual is just a bit too behind the times.

Our Call: SKIP IT, if anything, just to show solidarity towards Jashan. #JusticeforJashan. You deserve better, king.