Remembered in high school for putting on the worst Christmas play ever, the same group of adults back home for the holidays find a chance to redeem themselves through a wish they never asked for: to go back and get it right.

SYNOPSIS:

Merry Christmas Charlie Brown meets Back to the Future in a film where three high school classmates –renowned for the worst performance of A Christmas Carol in the school’s history– all return home years later. None have accomplished what they wanted to, adding to their blue Christmas. Each gets a chance at redemption when they find themselves back in school just before the infamous spectacle. The surreal experience gives each a new outlook on life.

Comps

The Knight Before Christmas: A time-traveler brings back the holiday spirit to a young woman.

A Very Nutty Christmas: A recently single lady wakes up on Christmas to a magical surprise.

Let It Snow: Different people with varying issues finding new beginnings.

Main Characters

Claire Bourne (35): Director of the play. Divorced, single mom, her failed marriage has dampened her holiday spirit for some years. Memories of her disgrace make this holiday something she would rather just get over with.

Samuel Bourne (8): Claire’s son. Loves the holidays but can’t understand why his mom is so down until she meets her former classmates from the bad play.

Lyndon Huang (36): One of Claire’s classmates and member of the play. Has become a commodities trader with little time for, or fond memories of, the holidays since graduating.

Lucinda Huang (35) Lyndon’s younger sister and in the play. Once close, after high school they grew apart as she took on a non-traditional lifestyle. Both put on a holiday facade for their parents.

Patrick Castillo (36): An overzealous athlete in high school now playing professional baseball. Had a crush on Claire back then but she never got the hints.

Synopsis

Claire and Sam visit home for the holidays. So too her former classmates Lyndon and Lucinda. All hold the distinction of putting on the worst rendition of A Christmas Carol ever while the current graduating class plans putting on the best. Haunted by their place in the Yuletide Hall of Shame, each keeps a low profile. Sam wonders why Christmas always gets his mom down. And seeing her classmates only makes this holiday worse. Adding to her morose feelings, she runs into –then away from– another classmate Patrick, just as smitten by her now as back in the day when he had an unrequited crush on her. Tossing a coin into a communal fountain, Sam wishes mom and friends could have made it the best play ever.

Next morning, Claire wakes up back in high school, days before the play. Trying to act normal during her surreal experience, she meets Lyndon and Lucinda, discovering they too have been brought back. While Claire worries about what will happen to Sam, she sees this as a second chance to do the play right; not so the others. Appealing to the desire to make their lives better in the future, they can begin again here. They agree to the do-over.

Each character begins a journey: Moving from the disgruntled 30-something to realizing life is a story full of constant, if not something thankful, change. The redo opens their eyes again, and they can start over, regardless of age. Something we all wish we could do.

Each faces challenges outside school. Claire deals with the (then) expectations of her mother, knowing they will not come to fruition: great family/career. A revelation from her father shows her all is not lost. Lyndon and Lucinda are forced to re-do Christmas traditions they’ve long abandoned. The simplicity of the times brings back memories of what great siblings they made. Each also realizes they lost the naive, wide-eyed innocence of youth staring into an unknown, wide-open future. Plowing ahead, the rehearsal starts on a bad foot (again). Tasked (again) with directing, Claire makes no headway with the motley group of thespians, even though she and her other would-be time travelers know what happens. Patrick offers to help Claire by filling in as Scrooge. So fixed on fixing the past, she fails to see his crush on her.

Tasked (again) with directing, Claire makes no headway with the motley group of thespians, even though she and her other would-be time travelers know what happens. This time, however, they plan a completely different play...

Themes/Allusions

What if the adult Charlie Brown could go back and redo that infamous play? Each character alludes to those from the beloved classic: Claire is Charlie;. Lyndon and Lucinda are Lucy and Linus; Samuel is that youthful, if not sometimes naive Christmas spirit: Patrick is Peppermint Patty. Blending it with a Christmas Carol, Scrooge and Charlie Brown ask the same question: What is Christmas all about?

ONCE UPON A CHRISTMAS PAST