ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT

Name: ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT
Item: ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT
Author: Review

"Trust God in All Things"

Family Content: +1 Moderately questionable elements. (Discernment required for young children.)

Entertainment Quality:

	None	Light	Moderate	Heavy
Language
Violence
Sex
Nudity

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What You Need To Know:

ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT follows Jessica, a wife and mother dealing with all the stress of the Christmas holiday, while also coping with a physical disability and the possibility her condition will worsen. Jessica does her best to balance her family, Christmas preparations and other responsibilities. However, when a fall lands Jessica in the hospital, Jessica starts to question God’s plan for her life.

ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT is a heartfelt, inspiring, engaging family movie. However, the movie’s plot does drag at times when some scenes begin to feel repetitive. ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT has a strong Christian worldview. It stresses faith and spending time with family. It also has many discussions of trusting in God’s plan and other scenes with strong prayer and Christmas hymns. In addition, the lead character runs a small business, and her children help her. There are some light examples of family dysfunction, such as a neighbor who’s contemplating divorce but gets some counseling. Also, the female lead argues with her sister. Otherwise, though, ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT is wholesome entertainment for the whole family.

Content:

(CCC, BBB, CapCap, M):

Dominant Worldview and Other Worldview Content/Elements:

Very strong Christian, moral worldview, stressing the importance of trusting in God’s plan, prayer, surrendering to God, and Christmas hymns like “Hark the Herald Angels Sing” and stressing the importance of family, valuing love and connection with others over material things, supporting others, a character counsels a neighbor whose marriage is going through a rough patch, plus some pro-capitalist elements where mother’s children help her bake cookies for her small business;

Foul Language:

No foul language;

Violence:

No violence;

Sex:

No sex;

Nudity:

No nudity;

Alcohol Use:

No alcohol use;

Smoking and/or Drug Use and Abuse:

No smoking or drugs; and,

Miscellaneous Immorality:

one character purposefully does not tell her family members that her disability is getting worse and might lead to more permanent effects, but comes clean by the end of the movie. Two married characters fight and contemplate divorce, but have agreed to keep working on their marriage by the end of the movie. There are a few fights between family members throughout the movie, but everyone apologizes and forgives each other by the movie’s conclusion.

More Detail:

In ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT, overextended Jessica is juggling Christmas with her family, a new business opportunity, and health complications from the injury that left her walking with a cane years ago. As stress levels mount, Jessica starts to grapple with her faith, questioning God’s plan for her life.

When Jessica was a teenager and aspiring dancer, she and her sister got into a car accident that left Jessica permanently disabled and walking with a cane. Years later, Jessica is all grown up, with a beautiful family and a small cookie business.

Jessica has big plans for the Christmas holiday, including hosting her entire family at her home, but when her sister finds out Jessica’s injuries might lead to rheumatoid arthritis, things start to get complicated.

Jessica doesn’t want anyone to know she’s struggling with her health. So, she says yes to everything and anything, from hosting her family days earlier than expected, to sewing Christmas play costumes, to baking 200 cookies for a big party that could help her business.

As Christmas nears, Jessica’s stress level mounts. Sadly, this leads to many angry outbursts and hurt feelings. However, when a fall lands Jessica in the hospital, she begins to question God’s plan for her life.

ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT is full of heart, promoting family and faith. However, the movie’s plot drags, with every scene matching the one before it, as Jessica’s plans keep going awry, stressing her out. So, while this is a sweet, inspiring movie, it can sometimes feel repetitive.

ALL IS MERRY AND BRIGHT has a strong Christian worldview. There are several discussions about trusting in the importance of God’s plan for us, even when it’s hard, as well as mentions of prayer, attendance of a church service, and Christmas hymns played throughout. There are some portrayals of family dysfunction (ex. A neighbor couple is considering divorce, Jessica and her sister fight), but otherwise, no objectionable content.

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