Dashing Through the Snow (2023)

Dashing Through the Snow arrived on Disney+ in November 2023 with a premise that sounds better than it plays: a jaded social worker, a maybe-Santa played by Lil Rel Howery, and a Christmas Eve car chase through Atlanta. Director Tim Story assembles a likable cast and a genuinely interesting idea about who gets to be Santa Claus. The result is a movie that coasts on charm when it should be building momentum.

Ludacris, Lil Rel, and a Santa You Haven't Seen Before

Chris "Ludacris" Bridges plays Eddie Garrick, an Atlanta social worker who stopped believing in Christmas after a childhood trauma. Separated from his wife Allison (Teyonah Parris), Eddie gets stuck taking his nine-year-old daughter Charlotte (Madison Skye Validum) to work on Christmas Eve. There they meet Nick, a fast-talking man in a red suit who may or may not be the real Santa Claus.

Lil Rel Howery is the best thing in the movie. His Nick is not the jolly, rosy-cheeked Santa of tradition. He's a hustler, a smooth talker, someone who could just as easily be running a sidewalk hustle as delivering presents. Howery has said he gets emotional watching the finished film because "that's a Black Santa. We don't see that often." He's right, and his performance carries a weight the screenplay doesn't always earn.

Ludacris, meanwhile, does solid work as the grumpy non-believer. He's better known for the Fast and Furious franchise than for family comedies, but he brings a warm, grounded energy to Eddie. The problem is the script gives him exactly one note to play for the first hour: skepticism. By the time his emotional arc kicks in, there's not enough runway left.

The Atlanta Setting and Tim Story's Formula

The movie was filmed in Atlanta, including locations in Castleberry Hill and Broad Street downtown. Setting a Christmas movie in Atlanta is a smart choice. The city rarely gets the holiday movie treatment, and the film leans into its geography with a few nice local touches.

Tim Story is the first Black director to gross over a billion dollars at the box office, with credits including Barbershop, the Ride Along franchise, and both Fantastic Four films. He knows how to stage comedy and keep a movie moving. But Dashing Through the Snow feels like it's on autopilot. The pacing is loose when it should be tight, and several sequences feel stretched to fill the 92-minute runtime.

The villain subplot is particularly weak. Oscar Nunez plays Conrad Harf, a corrupt congressman whose henchmen chase Nick, Eddie, and Charlotte around the city. The goons are clearly modeled on the bumbling burglars from Home Alone, but without any of the inventive slapstick. They exist to generate car chases and pratfalls, none of which land with real force.

What Works and What Doesn't

The movie's strongest moments are its quietest ones. A late scene where Eddie confronts his reasons for hating Christmas has genuine emotion. The relationship between Eddie and Charlotte has warmth, even if the script doesn't develop it enough. Teyonah Parris, a terrific actor coming off The Marvels the same month, is wasted in a thin wife-who-wants-him-to-try-harder role.

The screenplay by Scott Rosenberg, who wrote Con Air and High Fidelity, hits every expected beat without finding anything fresh between them. You know Eddie will believe. You know the family will reunite. You know Nick is Santa. The movie knows you know, and doesn't seem interested in surprising you anyway.

Critics gave it a 32% on Rotten Tomatoes. Audiences were kinder at 63%. That gap tells you something useful: if you're looking for a perfectly adequate family movie to put on while wrapping presents, this will do the job. If you're looking for a Christmas movie that earns a permanent spot in your rotation, keep looking.

The Representation Question

The most interesting thing about Dashing Through the Snow is something the movie itself barely addresses directly. A Black Santa in a major Disney production is still notable. The film treats it as perfectly natural, which is the right call. Nick is Santa because he acts like Santa, not because the movie makes a statement about it.

Producer Will Packer has said the creative team wanted "a Santa that doesn't feel like any other Santa you've seen before." Howery delivers on that promise. He plays Nick as someone who genuinely enjoys helping people, and his comic timing gives even the weaker scenes a spark. In a better movie, this version of Santa would become iconic. Here, he's the best performance in a film that doesn't quite deserve him.

Kevin Hart was originally cast in the role before dropping out due to scheduling conflicts. It's one of those happy accidents. Hart would have brought his usual high-volume energy. Howery brings something warmer: a Santa you'd actually want to spend Christmas Eve with.