Keira gives us Christmas, with a twist
KEIRA Knightley and the ensemble from Silent Night — the most astonishing Christmas movie ever made — are preparing to complete post-production on the film, work that was interrupted by the pandemic.
An unfinished version was shown privately to distributors at a series of Covid-secure screenings in Soho, London, this week, one of which I snuck into ... keeping my distance, of course.
Knightley and Matthew Goode are Nell and Simon, a privileged couple who live in a country pile with their three sons.
The boys are played by Roman Griffin Davis (schoolboy star of director Taika Waititi’s Oscar-winning film Jojo Rabbit) and his real-life younger twin brothers Hardy and Gilby.
The movie is directed by their mother, Camille Griffin, a first-time feature filmmaker who also wrote the screenplay. Nell and Simon are preparing to welcome some old college pals, plus their partners and offspring. They include Sope Dirisu, Lily-Rose Depp, Annabelle Wallis, Kirby HowellBaptiste, Lucy Punch, Rufus Jones and Davida McKenzie (a golden find).
The film is partly inspired by conversations that took place in the Griffin Davis household, about climate change and unconscious bias (racism and sexism in particular), among other stingers. For good measure, Griffin takes a few sly swipes at wealthy types from both sides of the political divide.
Where’s Christmas, you may ask? Well, in the opening scenes, as guests travel to Nell and Simon’s, there’s a ditty called The Christmas Sweater song playing gaily on the radio. It’s sung by Michael Buble, who coauthored it with Matthew Vaughn, Gary Barlow and Jane Goldman.
There’s a Christmas tree and presents. And folks do sit down to a turkey lunch, though oddly there’s only one potato each, to go with the other th t trimmings. i i Ad And what’s h t’ up with ith the murky tap water? No worries, though, because they’re knocking back the Prosecco like there’s no tomorrow. Much more I will not tell you, because the film contains an incredible twist that will become a mega talking point.
Suffice to say that Silent Night is a brilliant Christmas satire, reflective of the times we’re in. And that Marv Films (run by Vaughn and Claudia Schiffer, along with producers Trudie Styler and Celine Rattray) want it to open in cinemas over the Yuletide holidays.
During filming of the low-budget offering, Silent Night was a temporary, working title. But Griffin and the producers decided to make it permanent. Post-production will involve the actors doing voice work, further editing and the completion of its score.