In Review: Angela’s Christmas Wish (Netflix)

Synopsis: In this sequel to ‘Angela’s Christmas’. Angela makes plans to try and reunite her family in time to celebrate Christmas.

The Story

Netflix brings us another story set within the universe of Angela’s Ashes. A sequel to 2018s ‘Angela’s Christmas (Reviewed here). Angela’s Christmas Wish sees Angela go on a series of adventures with her older brother Pat. With their father working in Australia. Angela and Pat go all around Limmerick trying to raise funds to go get him in hopes of bringing him home for Christmas.

Voice Acting

As with the first movie. The voice performances are brilliant. Ruth Negga reprises her role as mam and delights with a very animated performance as she regales the children with charming stories about the power of wishing. This performance is so good that I can actually imagine the actor gesticulating around as she tells the story and her accent is pretty good too.

Lucy O’Connell is also wonderful in the titular role of Angela. I loved the scene in the church where she is talking to the Baby Jesus and absolutely yells about getting a big surprise on Christmas Day because she is hoping for the doll in the toy store. Further adding to the fun is the reaction of the various characters within the Church.

Overall

This is a wonderful sequel to the first movie, which continues along with the themes of family and community, which were so strong in the first film. The animation is solid as is the film’s soundtrack.

The voice actors do a wonderful job of telling the story and the brief musical interludes are very in keeping with the Irish Culture. The scene where Angela and Pat sing to the regulars in the bar was a lot of fun and is something that probably could well have happened in real life.

The mix of lovable characters, music and the playfulness of the characters make lend a special magical quality to the film. And the ending is very much earned and will bring a tear to even the most cynical of people.

Overall. We highly recommend this film to kids and adults of all ages.