The Best Christmas Pageant Ever

It’s the most wonderful time of year, especially for the little town of Emmanuel. Every Christmas season, the little town of Emmanuel gears up for its annual Christmas pageant. It is one of the most important events the community puts on. It’s extravagant, full of hope, and… it’s always the same. The same script, music, and lines that all the characters read. The townsfolk don’t want it to change, not even for the big 75th anniversary pageant.

Unfortunately (or fortunately?), the head director of the pageant, Mrs. Armstrong, took a massive fall and broke both her legs. She needs someone to take her place. Lucky for her, one of the church ladies, Grace Bradley, mother of a young daughter, Beth Bradley, is willing to step up and take on the role of director. Of course, the rest of the church ladies laugh. Especially since, well…

Enter the Herdman family: six of the most unruly, unorthodox, and down right nasty kids you’ve ever come across. They steal, they lie, they’re violent and they even curse (yes, even use the Lord’s name in vain). The leader of the group of siblings, Imogene Herdman (perfectly portrayed by Beatrice Schneider), tells the church congregation members and the pastor that they want to be in the pageant. Imogene demands that she play Mary and her brother play Joseph.

You can guess that the church members and the town are rather displeased by the casting. “Look at them! You can’t possibly have them in the pageant. They don’t dress properly, they smell. They are not the type of kids we want playing Mary and Joseph and the Angel of the Lord!”

But looks can deceive and certainly are in this story that asks the question, “Was Jesus born for everyone, or just a select chosen.”

Christmas movies are a dime-a-dozen. I mean, let’s be honest, there is an entire channel dedicated to showing Christmas movies year round (I’m looking at you Hallmark Channel). Many often feel overly familiar: someone who really hates Christmas or has a bad relationship with Christmas goes on some kind of journey and finds the “true” meaning of Christmas.

Here’s the issue though, Hollywood’s “true” meaning and Christians’ true meaning are completely different. Hollywood’s true meaning is snow, singing, and Santa Claus. But Christians, we have the one and only “true meaning,” and those kind of Christmas movies are rare.

This brings us to “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” True, it’s based on fictional events that take place in the 1970s. But the power, the heart, the sincerity can still be felt. Even the most hardened heart, the most “Bah Humbug” of the bunch can’t help but smile, laugh and, yes, cry. There’s such an emotional tug at the center of this film. I found myself screaming at the screen at the church ladies who degraded and insulted the Herdman children just because of how they dressed or how well behaved they were. As such, since people expected the Herdmans to be unruly and unkempt that’s exactly what they became.

I’m sure so many of us have watched a Christmas pageant at least once in our life. I’m sure that most of us know the full Christmas story. We grow up learning about the characters, the wisemen, the angel announcing the coming of Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the stall and Jesus in the manager, etc.

Knowing and understanding the story are very different things and that’s the message behind “The Best Christmas Pageant Ever.” We can behave like the “ideal christian” (go to church, read the Bible, memorize verses, volunteer, etc.) but if our heart isn’t true, if we are just going through the motions and behaving in ungodly manners during the rest of the week, then do you really have faith? (God is not a fool and cannot be fooled.) This message resonates throughout the film, from start to finish, without ever feeling “overly dramatic” or “overly preachy” as some secular critics might believe.

Three performances really stand out. First, Judy Greer makes an endearing yet compassionate Grace Bradley. You watch how conflicted she is, being in the middle of two opposing sides: what the town expects of her with the pageant and what GOD expects of her. Likewise the young lady who plays Beth Bradley gives a strong, believable performance, even at such a young age.

But the young girl who played Imogene Herdman, Beatrice Schneider. She goes from this hardened leader of the pack, this tough girl who on the outside looks like she doesn’t care, but deep down she really does. We watch and believe her connection not only with others, but her realization of just what Christmas means, and why Jesus is so revered (remember, her and her family had never been exposed to the Bible or Jesus while growing up).

Content of concern

VIOLENCE: Perennial pageant boss Mrs. Armstrong broke both of her legs, and we see her wheeled out of her house by paramedics. We’re told that one of the few things that differentiates the Herdman siblings from one another is the different black-and-blue marks where they “clomped” each other.

One of the Herdmans brings the family cat in for show-and-tell; we learn, presumably, that the cat ate another kid’s show-and-tell goldfish. Ralph Herdman says that his character (Joseph) should’ve burned down the inn, and that Jesus should’ve killed Heroda.

A snowball fight occurs. When no one volunteers for any of the important pageant roles, Grace asks Charlie why he didn’t raise his hand. “Gladys Herman hits too hard,” he says. (Later, we do indeed witness Gladys thwap someone across the head.) A Herdman draws a finger across her throat menacingly to deter anyone else volunteering, too.

LANGUAGE: God’s name is taken in vain a few times and someone says to pull it out of your (unspoken). Someone threatens to put pussywillow branches through another person’s ears.

SEXUAL LANGUAGE: When the Herdmans puzzle out what Mary being “great with child” means, one blurts out that she was obviously pregnant. Beth explains that Alice’s mother was very aware of anything remotely sexual, to the point that she never let Alice have a sleepover with anyone who had two rabbits. There’s a line about someone’s dad walking around in his underwear at home.

DRUGS: All the Herdman girls are said to have been smoking, even the younger ones. Someone is accused of smoking in the church bathroom (it turns out to be untrue).

OTHER: There are brief sequences where we see the Herdmans stealing, lying and cursing (we don’t hear any curse words). The Herdmans sneak into the movies by using a distraction. When one Herdman child repeatedly steals Charlie’s lunch money, an exasperated Charlie lies, telling him that he gets all the candy and soda and cake he wants at church.

Message

In another of the above messages I mentioned, there is one that lies at the center: judging others. My parents used to tell me if you point the finger at someone three are pointing back at you. When I was young I didn’t understand, until I found people making rash judgments and expressing misconceptions about who I was and how it made me feel. People judged me before knowing who I was.

The Bible is clear that God is the only true judge. Since we are flawed, imperfect beings (that can only be made whole through Jesus’ love), only God can judge us, as he knows our full heart and mind. Jesus states the following…

“Do not judge, or you too will be judged. For in the same way you judge others, you will be judged, and with the measure you use, it will be measured to you. Why do you look at the speck of sawdust in your brother’s eye and pay no attention to the plank in your own eye? How can you say to your brother, ‘Let me take the speck out of your eye,’ when all the time there is a plank in your own eye? You hypocrite, first take the plank out of your own eye, and then you will see clearly to remove the speck from your brother’s eye.” —Matthew 7:1-5

In the book of James it states,

“Brothers and sisters, do not slander one another. Anyone who speaks against a brother or sister or judges them speaks against the law and judges it. When you judge the law, you are not keeping it, but sitting in judgment on it. There is only one Lawgiver and Judge, the one who is able to save and destroy. But you—who are you to judge your neighbor?” —James 4:11-12

But the verses that hit home for me most are…

“You, therefore, have no excuse, you who pass judgment on someone else, for at whatever point you judge another, you are condemning yourself, because you who pass judgment do the same things. Now we know that God’s judgment against those who do such things is based on truth. So when you, a mere human being, pass judgment on them and yet do the same things, do you think you will escape God’s judgment?” —Romans 2:1-3

Final Thoughts

“The Best Christmas Pageant Ever” is one of those rare gems that highlights how Christmas comes to everyone in different ways, and as long as the true meaning of Christmas can be understood, anything is possible, even for those who are lost, forgotten or abandoned.

I highly recommend this film for all audiences. The film doesn’t have any “conversion to Christ” moments; none of the Herdmans at the end say “I believe in Jesus and want to be saved.” (as a reviewer for Plugged In noted). But what the film does have are: positive portrayals of Christians and Christianity, moments where prayer is valued and showcased, where Christian godly love and forgiveness is shown by others, where characters learn true, sincere lessons throughout.

And these things truly make for the best Christmas ever.

• Violence: Mild
• Profane language: Mild
• Vulgar/Crude language: None
• Nudity: None
• Sex: Minor
• Drugs/Alcohol: Minor
• Occult: None
• Wokeism: None

See list of Relevant Issues—questions-and-answers.