(Major spoilers forward, clearly, for the ending of “Last Christmas”)
“Last Christmas” kinda appears to be like like a reasonably normal romantic comedy, however I guarantee you it isn’t. And you need to have recognized higher anyway — it’s not as if director Paul Feig (“Bridesmaids,” “Spy”) is thought for making normal romantic comedies. He’s not. At all.
But better of all, it’s a film that I’ve found I get pleasure from throughout any season, not simply across the holidays. I’ve discovered it weirdly comforting to look at throughout quarantine.
Obviously, I actually loved “Last Christmas.” So I’m not scripting this as a method of mocking this film. The twist we’re about to debate is admittedly wild largely simply because it defies your expectations about what a romantic comedy is and since most people aren’t going to be coming into this factor anticipating any form of main twist. But, to me, “Last Christmas” isn’t simply completely different from romantic comedy requirements — it’s extra than only a romantic comedy as effectively.
So let’s get into it. I’m gonna kinda discuss by means of the plot of the film now The story right here focuses on Kate (Emilia Clarke), whose household moved to London within the late ’90s as refugees from Yugoslavia. As a end result, they’re all kinda tousled and have numerous emotional baggage. As Kate’s mother (Emma Thompson, who additionally co-wrote the movie) notes early on, she has no social life as a result of “all my friends were murdered.” Mom can be frightened that they’re gonna get kicked in a foreign country due to Brexit, and Dad (Boris Isakovic) drives a cab on a regular basis as a result of simply being round his household brings up numerous trauma.
In addition to all that stuff, Kate has some further baggage she’s coping with. As we be taught halfway by means of “Last Christmas,” she had a coronary heart defect of some type that put her within the hospital getting ready to demise, till she obtained a brand new coronary heart from somebody who had died. Ever since, she says, one thing has simply felt improper. So she drinks so much, eats unhealthy meals, hooks up with numerous random guys, and is simply usually incapable of getting a roommate with out doing silly issues that get her kicked out. Kate additionally avoids hanging out along with her household, although she finally has to sleep at her dad and mom’ home as a result of in any other case she’d be homeless.
Kate additionally works at a Christmas retailer, run by a girl who goes by Santa (Michelle Yeoh). Santa notes that ever since Kate returned to work after her sickness that she hasn’t been the identical — she sucks at her job and forgets to lock up the shop one night time, which after all has disastrous penalties.
Enter Tom (Henry Golding), a random dude who catches Kate’s eye when he’s standing exterior the shop someday. The two begin speaking they usually rapidly turn into tight. Tom exhibits her round to varied London spots she by no means knew about, and talks her by means of her emotional struggles. We solely find out about the entire thing along with her coronary heart as a result of she advised Tom about it.
After they hang around a couple of occasions — and after the shop will get ransacked as a result of she forgot to lockup — Kate realizes she must be proactive about getting her life collectively. Before, she was upset and vaguely suicidal in a “I’m on a quest to drink myself into an early grave” form of method. Now, due to her therapeutic hangout periods with Tom, which introduced out an consciousness of the rising frequency of her main screwups, she is now not overly enthusiastic concerning the inevitable candy embrace of demise.
Kate’s relationship with Tom is actually emotionally intimate, however probably not bodily, although they do kiss a pair occasions. They by no means find yourself hooking up, although.
Let’s discuss concerning the large twist now.
So it seems that Tom is a ghost. A 12 months earlier than the occasions of the movie, he was driving his bike on the street and received hit by a truck. And it’s his coronary heart that’s at the moment inside Kate’s chest. Yes, it’s that line from the tune the film is known as after — “Last Christmas I gave you my…
