The defence The Sentimental Softie
“Sincerity is not manipulation.”
The film risks embarrassment to make emotion communal, and that openness is harder than fashionable detachment.
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Jingle Bell Heist
Romance · Crime · Comedy · 2025
Two down-on-their-luck hourly workers team up to rob a posh London department store on Christmas Eve. Will they steal each other's hearts along the way?
Movie details
Jingle Bell Heist
“'Tis the season to give. And take.”
2025 Romance · Crime · Comedy 1h 36m
Critical arithmetic
One number, for now.
Scores change. Arguments endure.
TMDB
6.0 / 10
Community rating
Two down-on-their-luck hourly workers team up to rob a posh London department store on Christmas Eve. Will they steal each other's hearts along the way?
CriticWise case file
What this film says about your taste.
Not a recommendation score. A measure of how closely the film’s taste signals resemble yours.
The archetype split
Who fights over Jingle Bell Heist?
For the defence
The Sentimental Softie
“You came to feel something, and you will.”
Read their case For the prosecution
The Big-Idea Head
“You watch with your brain, not your gut.”
Read their objectionThe split comes from the same five-axis model used by the test, not audience ratings or review sentiment.
Taste neighbourhood
Nearby on the taste map.
TMDB supplies the candidates. CriticWise reorders them by craft, strangeness, prestige, emotion, and pace.
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Your Christmas or Mine 2
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They've swapped Christmas – again. Can Hayley and James' relationship survive another turbulent family Christmas or has their future together gone off-piste?!
Wedding Season
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Seems Like Old Times
Comedy · 1980
After being falsely accused of robbing a bank, a writer seeks the help of his lawyer ex-wife to clear his name. However, hilarity ensues when he must hide from her husband, who’s throwing a party for law enforcement officials.
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Names above the title
The people responsible.
Cast & crew
Directed by
Michael Fimognari
Written by
Abby McDonald · Amy Reed
Olivia Holt
Sophia
Connor Swindells
Nick
Lucy Punch
Cynthia Sterling
Peter Serafinowicz
Maxwell Sterling
Natasha Joseph
Rita
Poppy Drayton
Brianna
Michael Salami
Ralph
Court is in session
Put Jingle Bell Heist on trial.
Two incompatible taste archetypes. One film. Read the arguments, then issue a completely binding cultural ruling.
The prosecution The Big-Idea Head
“The strings are showing.”
Every cue tells you exactly what to feel and when, leaving sentiment to do the work character should have done.