And you thought chivalry was dead
The Knight Before Christmas is a 2019 Netflix Original Christmas fantasy Romantic Comedy film directed by Monika Mitchell and written by Cara J. Russell. It stars Vanessa Hudgens, and Josh Whitehouse in the lead romantic roles.
The film opens in the days leading up to Christmas 1334, whilst Sir Cole Christopher Fredrick Lyons (Whitehouse) and his brother Geoffrey are participating in seasonal competition tracking trained hawks through the woods around Norwich. Whilst out in the woods, Cole encounters a mysterious old woman who he offers to escort back to warmth and safety - the old woman then tells him she will send him on a knightly quest where he will encounter "flying steel dragons and horses" and "magic boxes that make merry". She then gives him a medallion which transports him to the future (and across the Atlantic) and warns him if he doesn't complete his knightly quest before midnight on Christmas Eve he will be stuck in the future forever.
Meanwhile, in the future - a small town in Ohio in the run up to Christmas 2019 - Brooke Winters (Hudgens) is a high school science teacher who who doesn't believe in true love due to a bad break up agrees to take her niece to the opening of a local Christmastide only renfaire like event called "The Christmas Castle". When the utterly confused Sir Cole appears at this event and Brooke accidentally hits him non-lethally with her car she assumes he is an actor from the "Christmas Castle" who has suffered from some sort of Easy Amnesia and just believes he is an actual medieval knight. She decides, as he has no ID and nowhere to go, to put him up in the guest home she inherited from her parents.
Cue a will-they-won't me Time-Travel Romance with a Christmassy twist.
This film provides examples of:
- Bonding over Missing Parents: Brooke lost both her parents recently, her mother to undisclosed illness and all we know is her father was a cop before he passed away, unclear if this was during retirement or whilst he was still serving. Cole's hasn't seen his parents since he was sent away to be a squire in his youth. The two bond over this when Cole accidentally opens a box of Christmas decorations belonging to Brooke's mother and they discuss both their mother's skills at crafting and sewing.
- Brief Accent Imitation: Cole puts on an American accent a few times when trying out some slang he's picked up from binge watching television on his first day in 2019.
- But Now I Must Go / I Choose to Stay: As it's a Time-Travel Romance the only two options are either Cole goes back to the 1300s and breaks Brooke's heart, or stays in 2019 Bracebridge and turns his back on his old life. He subverts the But Now I Must Go trope by going back home just long enough to see his brother get knighted and then tracks down the Old Crone again so he can return back to 2019 and stay with Brooke
- Danger — Thin Ice: Claire and Lily go out to play in the snow but get caught in a blizzard and Claire stumbles out on to a frozen lake which begins to crack. Luckily Cole and Brooke find them in time for Cole to talk Claire though how to safely get off the ice whilst he tries to also safely get to her, by both of them getting down and crawling whilst spread out flat on the ice to minimise the surface pressure.
- Dream Walker: The Old Crone is able to reach into Cole's dreams to remind him that he needs to complete his quest, though she still only drops hints in riddles.
- Eternal English: As Cole travels forward in time from 1334, he comes from a few years before the start of the first phase of The Hundred Years War gave incentive for the English nobility to switch away from speaking Anglo-Norman French to Middle English. So there's a good chance Cole should not be able to speak English, and even if he did he would speak Middle English which is only kinda-sorta understandable to a modern English speaker.
- Everytown, America: The fictional Bracebridge, Ohio where Brooke lives. Note there is a Bracebridge in Canada - where the "American" part of the movie was filmed - and the UK but the one in this movie is very much a fictional small town where everyone knows each other and the entire community seems to come together for Christmas.
- Fish out of Temporal Water: Cole at first, he doesn't know what cars are and is confused by television but he actually takes to the future fairly quickly.
- For Halloween, I Am Going as Myself: Or rather "for the Christmas Castle", Cole doesn't look out of place when he shows up in chainmail and plate armor as the town has a medieval themed Christmas Faire on and people assume he is staff.
- Gilligan Cut: When Cole becomes enamored with the "magic box that makes merry" (television) he invites Brooke to spend the day binge watching TV with him. She declines saying she's far to busy... cut to her having fallen asleep on Cole's shoulder in front of the TV with him hours later.
- Greasy Spoon: Brooke is aghast when she finds Cole outside one morning trying to kill a skunk for food, so takes him to a local diner to get him some food. Cole is confused by the menu at first but ends up quite liking it, especially as she orders him some hot chocolate which he's become addicted to since landing in the future.
- Hands-On Approach: When Cole is teaching Brooke how to make bread it complains that she's kneading the dough to heavily and it won't rise "if you continue to wrest it like a dragon-slayer". Then the goes around her back and leans over her to show her how to knead the dough which she's more than happy to participate in.
- Innocently Insensitive: Cole keeps calling the lady dressed as Mrs. Claus at the Christmas Castle "Old Crone" as the actual sorceress who sent him to the future briefly impersonated her and he doesn't realise the term is deeply insulting to a modern woman. He also calls a female server at Greasy Spoon a "wench" as he doesn't realise that over time that's gone from meaning "waitress" to being associated with prostitution.
- Knight in Shining Armor: Cole is chivalrous, kind, handsome and knows a decent amount of survival skills like how to hunt and how to stop yourself falling through thin ice, which he uses to save Brooke's niece Claire.
- Knight in Sour Armor: Funnily enough not Cole, who is very idealistic and romantic. Brooke however has had a bad break-up recently which doesn't believe in true love any more.
- Nice Girl:
- Brooke, who whilst a bit saracastic and burned out on the idea of romance is kind - she gives her students ample chance to make up for poor test scores and is kind but firm when asking why they unexpectedly fail. She also is keeping alive her parents tradition of feeding the needy by running the local Christmas Feast which raises money for disadvantaged families in town.
- Claire, Brooke's niece, who gives away her new gloves to her best friend when she realises said best friend can't afford gloves that fit.
- Punny Title: Is a play on words of Clement Clarke Moore's famous poem 'Twas the Night Before Christmas.
- Real Men Cook: Cole is able to help out making food for a pre-Christmas charity event as he points out as squire he was expected to do shifts in the kitchens.
- Sequel Hook: The same old woman who sent Cole to the future is shown meeting Cole's brother Geoffrey at the end of the movie.
- Single Woman Seeks Good Man: Brooke has been burned in love before when her ex-boyfriend cheated on her. Cole's charm, chivalrous ways, kind-hearted treatment of her young niece Claire and just general niceness really warm her to him.
- Sleep Cute: Whilst Brooke initially declines Cole's invitation to spend the day watching TV with him she soon gives in and ends up falling asleep on his shoulder, he tucks a blanket around her and then falls asleep himself on the sofa next to her.
- San Dimas Time: Cole travels forward from December 18th 1334 to December 18th 2019 and must solve his quest before midnight Christmas eve; when he does eventually return it is from Christmas Eve 2019 back to Christmas Eve 1334 - the movie doesn't make it clear if this takes into account the shift from the Julian calendar to the Gregorian one but it would be the same amount of days regardless.
- Solitary Sorceress: The "old crone" Cole meets in the woods is a benevolent, but meddling, witch who gives out magical time travel amulets and sends people on personal quests. She also seems to be able to time travel and teleport international distances herself. The woods appear to be her usual home.
- Time and Relative Dimensions in Space: Cole doesn't just move forward 685 years in time but also across continents from the woods outside Norwich, England to a small town in Ohio, USA.
- Time-Travel Romance: Sir Cole travels from 1334 Norwich to 2019 Ohio and starts to develop feelings for Brooke. He decides to stay with her in the future.
