Emma, mourning her father's death and resenting Christmas, is transported to an alternate reality by Santa, faced with the choice of saving her ailing sister or returning to a world without her father.

SYNOPSIS:

SYNOPSIS:

College sophomore Emma returns home for Christmas break to be with her family, her mother Alexis, a psychologist, and eight year old little sister Anna. Her relationship with her mother is tense as just before Christmas the previous year, her father died in a car crash. He was going to get Emma a present that she begged him for: a new phone. Since then she blames herself for his death, she hates everything about Christmas. Her mother on the other hand, deals with her grief by going all-in for Christmas, insisting that Emma stay for the holidays and getting a family photo taken at their long-time Santa photo studio. Emma refuses, saying that she is spending the holidays with her girlfriend, Prishna.

Alexis tries demanding then manipulating Emma into cancelling her trip. They argue and Emma lashes out at her mom, upsetting Anna. To appease her sister, Emma agrees to have the photo taken.

On the way to the studio, Emma ducks into a coffee shop to speak with Prishna who works as a barista there. She explains the situation with her mom and that she won’t be able to make the trip. Prishna understands and Emma leaves to go to the studio.

At Santa’s studio, he greets them like old friends. They assemble for the pose, but Emma gets upset and walks off. Santa follows to talk with her. She pours her heart out to him and says she wishes that she had never been born. He asks if she is sure and to “Be careful what you wish for”. Confused, Emma returns to her family and poses for the photo.

The camera clicks, and a blinding flash goes off. Emma is transported to her front porch. Confused, Emma tries to enter. The door is locked, and she realizes she has no key. Her mother opens the door and greets her, but something is off. Her mom explains that she’s a new patient of hers, and she has amnesia. She’s there for treatment. Anna panics, and in the confusion, turns around to see her father, now alive. She faints.

Anna wakes up and soon understands she’s in an alternate reality. She’s happy her father is alive, but her heart sinks when she sees her sister, who is ill and sickly. She finds out Anna doesn’t have long to live.

A mysterious snowstorm appears, cutting off any means out of their small town nestled in the mountains, so Emma is invited to stay the weekend, until the roads are cleared and she can return back to the psychiatric hospital from which she was being treated.

Santa pays a visit disguised as a postal carrier and explains that Emma has a choice: stay in this new reality or return to the old one. She has until Christmas to decide or it’s permanent. Emma decides to “fix” this new reality.

Emma soon finds that there are other issues in her new reality. Her father is an alcoholic who is drinking himself to death as he grieves Anna’s inevitable demise. Prishna is in the closet and is fearful of coming out to her family. Her mother is actually the same as before, but has suspicions about Emma wavering between trying to cure her and thinking she may be dangerous to the family.

Emma begins her quest to make this new reality better. She convinces her father to stop drinking and finds Prishna at the coffee shop, and though hesitant, Prishna gives Emma her phone number.

In a dream flashback, it’s revealed that Anna had cancer very young, and Emma was a match for a bone marrow transplant. With Emma never having been born, Anna hasn’t found a match. Emma offers Alexis to see if she’s a match but is rebuffed as she is concerned this is about Emma's mental state.

On Sunday, two days before Christmas, Anna and John are sledding in the back yard when Ann suddenly collapses. They rush to the hospital. Anna is okay, just a little dehydrated. Emma talks to the doctor asking to be tested for a match. He agrees.

While waiting for the blood draw, Santa enters the examination room, dressed in hospital scrubs. He explains the while she’s a match it’s too late. Anna won’t live much longer. Emma asks how he knows, and he explains that she’s not on “The List”, the naughty/nice list for next Christmas. He also knows she isn’t on the list either. Emma breaks down, confessing that she was going to commit suicide, as she couldn’t handle the grief any longer. Santa confesses that he feels responsible for her father’s death. He explains that he no longer makes toys and distributes them, but that he has to power to inspire people when choosing gifts. He inspired her father to get the phone. He said he forgot to check the list and perhaps he could have prevented it. Emma forgives Santa and decides to return back to her old reality.

As they are leaving the hospital, Alexis receives a text that an appointment slot has opened up at Santa’s studio. She decides to take it then afterwards drop Emma off at the bus station to return to the psychiatric hospital.

That evening, Emma says goodbye to her father. She notices he’s started drinking again.

On Christmas Eve, the family goes to Santa’s studio. They pose for a photo without Emma, then Santa offers to take one with Emma. The flash goes off and Emma is transported to the front porch. Her mother opens the door, excited to see her daughter. Emma sees Anna, healthy as before. She sees last year’s photo, with her dad missing and her heart sinks.

Her mother says she got a delivery and opens a box with a framed photo inside. She shows it to Emma, and her father is in the photo. Excited Anna turns around, and sees her father alive. Filled with joy, she hugs him. Alexis explains that it was disappointing that John missed last year’s photo shoot due to a car accident.

As the rest of the family goes off to prepare dinner, Emma looks at the photo. She sees a card is attached to the back. It’s from Santa and reads, "My Dearest Emma, I was able to call in a favor. I hope you will accept this gift. No returns! Merry Christmas, Santa"

EMMA'S CHRISTMAS CHOICE