Saving Christmas

Plot

The film starts with Cameron sitting on a chair by a fireplace and talking directly to the audience, telling them of his love of Christmas but saying the traditional Christmas imagery is "all wrong" and having "nothing to do with Christmas", and blaming atheists for trying to take the holiday away from Christians; he also suggests that Santa Claus is a Christian.

Kirk goes to a Christmas party at the house of his sister (played by Cameron's real-life sister Bridgette Ridenour). While there he notices that his brother-in-law, Christian, isn't celebrating like the others. When asked why he seems so sad, Christian says he feels the holiday became too commercialized and consumerist. Kirk tells Christian that he is wrong and starts reminding him of the stories of the Bible. Meanwhile, two guests at the party discuss conspiracy theories.

As Christian complains that several elements of Christmas, most notably Christmas trees, are not biblical in origin. Kirk tells him that Christmas trees were God's idea, since he made the trees. He also says that each tree represents a Christian cross, and suggests the audience to see a cross each time they see a tree. Kirk's brother-in-law is convinced by his arguments, but then starts complaining about Santa Claus for he sees him as an obliteration of Jesus and noticed that "Santa" and "Satan" have the same letters, but Kirk tells him that the original Santa Claus (before being re-interpreted by western culture) was actually Saint Nicholas beating up non-believers and people who did not believe enough, thus making Santa a good religious figure; his brother-in-law is now convinced that "Santa is the man".

Christian is now convinced of Christmas' faithfulness to its religious roots, and the two return to the party. Kirk then explains that the presents at Christmas represent Jerusalem, and that Christmas is "doing what God does", as he always gave humanity many gifts. He then suggests once more to bring back Christianity in Christmas for our children. His brother-in-law, as a gift for his wife, organizes the same night a hip-hop dance representing his joy of celebrating Christmas, leading to everyone dancing and partying together. Kirk then tells everyone to feast, and suggests the audience organize the best dinner possible for Christmas, but not to forget this is a celebration of God.

Cast

Release

Saving Christmas debuted on 410 screens on November 14, 2014.

Box office

On its first weekend, the film came in fifteenth place with ticket sales of $992,087, with a per screen average of $2,420. In its six-week run, the film grossed $2,783,970 at the box office. Based on a $500,000 budget, the film can be considered a box office success.

Critical reception

On Rotten Tomatoes, the film received a rating of 0%, based on 13 reviews, with an average rating of 1.7/10. On Metacritic, the film received a rating of 18 out of 100, based on 9 critics, indicating "overwhelming dislike". New York Times film critic Ben Kenigsberg said that Cameron's acting "sounds so forced you half-expect the camera to pull back to reveal hostage takers". Billings Gazette named it the worst Christmas movie of all time in 2016, and Will Nicol of Digital Trends included it on his list of the ten worst movies ever made. Christy Lemire picked Saving Christmas as the worst film she has ever reviewed.

In The Christian Post, an Evangelical Christian newspaper, Emma Koonse wrote, "[Kirk Cameron] dismisses theories that Christmas is derived in [sic] the pagan celebration of Winter Solstice in Saving Christmas, offering viewers a Biblical reference to items such as the Christmas tree instead. Furthermore, the film reveals Cameron's take on Santa Claus, the three wise men, and why Christmas is celebrated on Dec. 25 each year... Although Cameron attempts to defend Christmas traditions in Saving Christmas, many Christians remain divided over what the Bible says about celebrating Christ's birth as well as where the varied Christmas traditions originated and what the customs mean in reference to Jesus."

Cameron's response to critics

On November 20, Cameron responded to the negative reviews by posting on his Facebook page. He wrote, "Help me storm the gates of Rotten Tomatoes. All of you who love Saving Christmas – go rate it at Rotten Tomatoes right now and send the message to all the critics that WE decide what movies we want our families to see." The attempt resulted in a severe backlash in which Internet users traveled to the Rotten Tomatoes page and condemned the film.

Three weeks after release, the film gained additional notoriety when it became the lowest rated film on IMDb's bottom 100 list. Cameron later responded to the low rating, saying that it was due to a campaign on Reddit by "haters and atheists" to purposely lower the film's ratings.

Home media

Saving Christmas was released on DVD and Blu-ray on November 3, 2015. The film was also made available on Hulu in March 2016.

Soundtrack

A soundtrack album was released on October 27, 2014 by Reunion Records.

1. "Joy" – 1 Girl Nation
2. "Christmas Time Again" – Steven Curtis Chapman
3. "Saving Christmas" – Building 429
4. "Let Us Adore" – Jason Crabb
5. "O Holy Night" – Kerrie Roberts
6. "Away in a Manger" – Casting Crowns
7. "Deck the Halls" – Tenth Avenue North
8. "O Little Town of Bethlehem" – Rebecca St. James
9. "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing" – Matt Maher
10. "O come, O come, Emmanuel" – Rhett Walker Band