BOXING DAY

STAND-BY ART DIRECTOR

Production Designer - GINI GODWIN

Director - AML AMEEN

The directorial and writing debut of actor Aml Ameen, Boxing Day stars Ameen as Melvin, a British author living in America with his fiancée, Lisa (Aja Naomi King). A TV interview in London brings Melvin back home to London after two years away, and Lisa wants to use the opportunity to meet his family, despite his misgivings surrounding the circumstances of his move to America. The family gets together for Christmas, and, as they tend to during the holidays, things escalate, testing relationships old and new to breaking point.

There are a lot of moving parts in this story, which explores a series of complex and messy relationships over its 110-minute runtime, as well as touching on important socio-political talking points like race and gender. The writing can be a little cringe-inducing in places, but in a way that works with the tone and general storytelling intent, and makes it generally hard to stay mad at. The script also boasts some pretty strong comedic chops, with some great jokes that work well to both exacerbate and provide some comic relief to the constant family drama, keeping things constantly interesting and compelling.