The Best Christmas Pageant Ever premiered at the Los Angeles Film Festival on November 2, 2024, and was released theatrically by Lionsgate on November 8, 2024. It received generally positive reviews from critics.
Plot
The Herdmans are six siblings with the reputation in the town for being the worst kids in the world. They are also labeled as Juvenile Delinquents who will most likely end up in jail. Beth Bradley, the narrator, wishes they would somehow disappear somewhere remote until she can grow up and move away.
The Herdmans are Imogen, the eldest, then Ralph, Leroy, Claude, Olly and Gladys. They are all assertive and brutish, bully everyone, steal and generally make everyone miserable.
On the town Christmas pageant's 75th anniversary, Beth's housewife mom Grace volunteers to be in charge as the woman who usually runs it has broken her legs. Beth's little brother Charlie tells his tormentor that at church they get treats and sweets, so the whole Herdman clan comes to Sunday school.
Surprisingly, they stay. But even more surprising, Imogen announces she will take the role of Mary in the local church pageant. She and her siblings offer themselves to take the biggest parts, bullying everyone else into silence. The shocked community is appalled that Grace gives them a chance to reform by letting them perform in the pageant.
At the first rehearsal Grace reads everyone the Christmas story, sensing that the Herdmans are not familiar with it. They are outraged by the story, suggesting they include a King Herod to kill, so they cut their first meeting short when chaos errupts.
At the Bradleys that night, they debate over the Herdmans' participation in the pageant. Dad Bob points out they will make the show more interestingly unpredictable and that they had some valid questions. The next morning, he takes their whole family as he delivers hams for the food drive. Watching how excited the Herdman's are upon receiving theirs seals Grace's determination to follow through with them in the pageant.
Imogen gets Beth to help her and her siblings to research the Christmas story in the library. To convince them to care about the pageant, she points out it is an opportunity to live someone else's life, like actors in a movie.
The final dress rehearsal is chaotic. First Imogen's brothers hide the baby, the choir are not in sync, a mother makes Imogen feel unworthy to be Mary, then a fire alarm is pulled. In the mayhem with the fire trucks, Imogen overhears many townspeople speaking badly of the Herdmans, so they disappear.
The next day, when Grace is not able to reach them by phone, Beth confronts Imogen at home. Although reminded that Grace fought for her family to have this opportunity, Imogen does not give her any assurance that she and her siblings will come. So that evening, when Grace opens the Christmas pageant, she freely admits she has no idea how it will go.
At the last minute the Herdmans do come, and give a certain authenticity to the show. Imogen sheds real tears, and many are moved. The family is accepted by the townspeople, and all but Leroy move on to do well in life.
The Best Christmas Pageant Ever premiered in Los Angeles on November 2, 2024,[8] and was released in the United States on November 8, 2024.[9] It was previously scheduled for November 15, 2024 before moving forward a week earlier to avoid competition with another Christmas film, Red One.[10]
Reception
Box office
In the United States and Canada, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever was released alongside Heretic, Elevation, Weekend in Taipei, and the wide expansion of Anora, and was projected to gross $6–8 million from 3,020 theaters in its opening weekend, with some projections going as high as $10 million.[11] The film made $5 million on its first day, which included $2.3 million and $500,000 from Sunday and Thursday night previews, respectively, for a total preview gross of $2.8 million.[2] It went on to debut to $10.8 million, finishing in third behind holdover Venom: The Last Dance and Heretic.[12] The film made $5.3 million in its second weekend (a drop of 51.3%) and then $3.5 million in its third, finishing in third and sixth place, respectively.[13][14] Its total worldwide gross is $40.2 million.[3][4]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 92% of 63 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 7.1/10. The website's consensus reads: "Decking the halls with unflappable charm and sincere spiritual conviction, The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is winningly wholesome family entertainment."[15]Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 60 out of 100, based on 12 critics, indicating "mixed or average" reviews.[16] Audiences surveyed by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "A" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it an 88% overall positive score.[2]
