Last Christmas (2019)

Paul Feig's 2019 film Last Christmas has a problem that is also its greatest asset: everyone who walks into the theater thinks they know what they're getting. A romcom set in London at Christmas, starring Emilia Clarke as a mess of a twentysomething and Henry Golding as the impossibly charming man who helps her get her life together. The Wham! soundtrack practically writes itself. But the movie has a card up its sleeve, and whether that card works for you will determine everything.

The Last Christmas Cast and Their Chemistry

Emilia Clarke plays Kate, a young woman of Yugoslav heritage who works as an elf in a year-round Christmas shop in Covent Garden. She's reckless, selfish, and a little bit lost after a serious illness. Clarke commits fully to making Kate grating in the early scenes. It's a bold choice for a lead in a romantic comedy, and it pays off because the transformation that follows feels earned rather than manufactured.

Henry Golding plays Tom, the love interest who appears out of nowhere with life advice and an unnerving ability to always be in the right place. Their chemistry is warm but slightly off-kilter, which turns out to be the point. Golding plays the role with a gentleness that only makes sense on a second viewing.

The real scene-stealer is Emma Thompson, who co-wrote the screenplay with Bryony Kimmings and also plays Kate's Croatian immigrant mother, Petra. Thompson gives Petra a fierce, bewildered dignity that grounds the film's more sentimental moments. Michelle Yeoh rounds out the cast as Santa, Kate's exasperated boss at the Christmas shop, delivering dry one-liners with surgical precision.

Is Last Christmas a Christmas Movie?

Absolutely, and it earns the label more honestly than most. The Christmas setting isn't window dressing. Kate's job in a Christmas shop means every scene is saturated with tinsel, baubles, and fairy lights. The film uses Christmas as a framework for its themes: giving, paying attention to other people, and waking up to the world around you.

There's also a political dimension that most Christmas films avoid entirely. The screenplay, set in post-Brexit-vote London, weaves in scenes of xenophobia and social fracture. Kate's family faces casual prejudice. A homeless shelter becomes a key location. The film argues that the spirit of Christmas is inseparable from how we treat strangers, which is a more interesting thesis than most holiday films bother to have.

Last Christmas Movie Review: The Twist That Divides

Here's where opinions fracture. The film's third-act reveal recontextualizes everything. Some viewers find it deeply moving. Others find it manipulative. Without spoiling it: the title is not just a reference to the Wham! song. It's literal.

The twist is set up with enough clues that a second viewing reveals just how carefully Feig and Thompson planted the seeds. Tom is never seen interacting with anyone other than Kate. He appears and disappears without explanation. His advice is oddly profound for a man who seems to have no life of his own. Whether this constitutes clever foreshadowing or a cheat depends on your tolerance for magical realism in what marketed itself as a straightforward romcom.

Critics were divided. Last Christmas earned a 46% on Rotten Tomatoes, but audiences gave it a 78%. That gap tells you something important: the film works better when you're not grading it against the romcom formula it pretends to follow.

The Wham! Factor

The film's use of George Michael's music goes well beyond the title track. The soundtrack features 15 of his songs, making it function almost as a jukebox musical at times. Emma Thompson reportedly pitched the idea to George Michael himself before his death in 2016, and his estate granted access to the full catalog.

The music is integrated with varying success. Some moments land beautifully, like Kate singing "Last Christmas" at a charity concert. Others feel shoehorned in, as if the filmmakers were contractually obligated to hit a quota. But when the soundtrack works, it adds an emotional layer that the dialogue alone couldn't achieve. George Michael's voice carries a built-in melancholy that suits the story's undercurrent of loss.

What Last Christmas Gets Right

The film's secret weapon is its portrait of modern London. Kate's family speaks in a mix of English and their native language. The homeless shelter scenes avoid both condescension and sentimentality. The Christmas shop, based on a real store in Covent Garden, feels like an actual place rather than a set.

Feig also gets the pacing right for the most part. At 102 minutes, the film doesn't overstay its welcome. The middle section sags slightly when Kate's redemption arc hits its predictable beats, but Clarke's physical comedy and Thompson's barbed maternal performance keep individual scenes lively even when the plot mechanics are visible.

Last Christmas is not the film it pretends to be in its trailer. It's stranger, sadder, and more politically aware than the glossy romcom packaging suggests. That bait-and-switch cost it with critics who wanted the movie they were promised. But for viewers willing to meet it on its own terms, it offers something more interesting than another by-the-numbers holiday romance.