Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementPerhaps audiences have Hollywood to blame for establishing a genre that feels like it relies so heavily on stereotypes. “It’s funny rewatching a couple of Christmas films and reminding myself about them,” says Isibeal Ballance, the TV producer who worked with writer-director Mark Gatiss on subversive Christmas drama The Dead Room. “The problems start if you also finish in a familiar place.”Not all Christmas shows follow this cookie-cutter approach. Advertisement AdvertisementAdvertisement AdvertisementIn the psychological horror Better Watch Out, stereotypes about Christmas are manipulated to trick the viewer into thinking they are in familiar territory. And then to drive the knife in, we continued with the holiday stereotypes ― characters wearing ugly Christmas sweaters, serving hot cocoa to the carollers ― to create a disturbing juxtaposition with the unfolding events.

Source: Huffington Post December 25, 2025 08:03 UTC