Loosely inspired by Wham!’s perennially popular 1984 hit, Last Christmas casts Emilia Clarke as a down-on-her-luck Christmas shop elf, with Henry Golding (Crazy Rich Asians) as her charming-strange♛r love interest. The💟ir romance plays out in a twinkly London so Richard Curtis-esque you keep expecting it to cut to Hugh Grant in No 10. 

Aspiring singer Kate (Clarke) has he♈r ambitions constantly thwarted, often by self-sabotage. Luckily, Golding&🐈rsquo;s on hand to espouse the benefits of good deeds. 

Director Paul Feig (Bridesmaids) gets a few more acerbic laughs than you’d expect from such a fluffy-sounding premise, with co-writer/ star Emma Thompson giving herself the biggest chuckles. Clarke is very easy to like and also handles a couple of emotional moments effectively, but a few major problems drag ꦿthe film to turkey ter🍃ritory. 

For one thing, there are inescapable and unflattering parallels with TV’s superlative Fleabag, particularly in the sisterly relationship. It falls between stools musically, too: it’s not a full-on jukebox musical, but there’s too much George Michael for a standard Christmas r🐼omance. Sticking to the title track would’ve jarred less. Save your Christmas dosh for som꧋ething special.