Cardigan of the brown variety, watching reality television and harassing youngsters trying to sell off hot chocolate, A Christmas Karen is a fascinating horror show. Open-toed sandals and blonde hair bobs are the makings of a harrowing Christmas treat that plays up the very obvious mockery that comes from the rise in Karen sightings. Yet the time it takes for A Christmas Karen to turn into an Evil Dead horror show that riffs on the fabled stories of Ebeneezer Scrooge and the endless purgatory of lost souls who hit children with Hummers and take a variety of Canadian painkillers. Jon Binkowski and Lisa Enos Smith’s directing efforts here blur the B-Movie horrors with the festive season surprisingly well.
Much of that relies on a roundly well-made cast of solid performances and well-cast leads. Michele Simms’ leading, eponymous role pushes on through with surprising quality. A Christmas Karen relies not on the writing but on the inference made by the name, the part plays itself. Red wine, bobbed hair and a hatred for any sort of common decency that does not indicate dominance of the self in social situations. These moments are played up briefly and with shocking variety. There is a quality here found also in Postal, but a reversal there. Rather than the lead being the only sensible part of the world, it would appear the world is against Karen. Rightly so, for obvious reasons. The humour is well rounded though, that is the key to A Christmas Karen.
There is an irreverence here that relies on meme culture that will likely last beyond the longevity of the feature. Rolin Alexis’ performance as the Ghost of Christmas Past offers up a delightful array of both the writing style and comical, darker humour found within A Christmas Karen. That lack of fun, the distance between Karen and the people that matter most to her, it is the growth away from the “path to Karen” that matters most. Evolution of the Suburban Karen comes at a great cost for those that have to put up with her. Whether or not the move from suburban mom to unbearably friendly neighbour is a positive step is by the by, the conclusion is just the same and must adhere to the Christmas Carol blueprint. Fair enough, Binkowski and Smith stick to that with a routine and structure that allows them some wiggle room for solid jokes and odd, flashback diversions.
Quality can be found within A Christmas Karen, a surprisingly solid Christmas feature that drags on a bit more than it should. Even then it instils that modern pop strangulation of a popular name now associated with the barrel-scrapings of culture. Interesting spins on a classic Christmas tale see flashbacks to parties, dead ghouls, and a genuinely faithful rendition of the Scrooge-like classic that, occasionally, falls to the lack of detail shown in its sets. A little Postal, a little Christmas Carol, and a lot of fun to be had with friends. Nowhere close to the classic quality audiences may want at this time of year, but certainly provides some light, new entertainment for the most wonderful time of year.
