Spellbinding holiday tale Christmas Eve In Miller’s Point conjures nostalgia that never veers toward cloying.
Intimate, disparate moments of an annual holiday tradition are artfully portrayed in director Tyler Taormina’s latest, the Long Island-set. The audience ostensibly tags along to a chaotic yuletide party hosted by the matriarch of the Balsano family, which is attended by every conceivable far-flung relative.
If Antonia outwardly adores anyone, it’s her grandkids. She harbors an especially soft spot for Emily and her cousin Michelle , whose hair she gingerly strokes as overlapping conversations echo through the halls. As the film advances, the plot becomes predominantly fixated on the younger sect of the Balsano clan. The adults’ progressive inebriation provides the perfect cover for Emily and Michelle to sneak out and link up with their friends.
Taormina channels a very specific aura of nostalgia that never borders on the cloyingly sentimental. The tapestry woven is intentionally scrappy, never lingering too long on any one character’s emotional arc. This distance evokes the manner in which many of us engage with our extended families: with bemused interest, but no true desire to penetrate the performative personalities that often emerge during special occasions.
Even as an outsider among this tightknit group, the camera nevertheless cultivates moments of overwhelming fondness for the Balsanos. A scene where the family comes together to watch home movies on VHS is so sincere in its presentation that one can’t help but get choked up; it’s as if you’re watching the most precious memories of a distant relative, beautiful in part because of their unknowable quality.
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