Plot Summary
Jessica ran away from home as a teenager after she did something she would regret forever, but now, after living with an abusive boyfriend for several years, she finds herself running back home for help. However, when she arrives on the farm she once lived on, she finds that all is not well nor how she left it. As she struggles to begin a new life, she discovers that she will need to return to her childhood faith in order to move forward.
Production Quality (2.5 points)
As should be the case for all recently-made Christian films, Christmas Manger demonstrates high production quality, as evidenced by good video quality and camera work. Though the audio can be quiet at times due to not having enough soundtrack, the sets, locations, and props are adequately used and well-constructed. Besides a few one-off lighting issues in some scenes, which may be by design, the editing is good, which rounds out a great production that we should see become more and more commonplace as we move into a new year of Christian film.
Plot and Storyline Quality (1.5 points)
Andrea Gyertson Nasfell has always been good at writing plots that portray real and accessible characters in believable life situations. This is paired with dialogue that is mostly good at building character personality and motive, but we really needed to see a bit more from the conversations among the characters in order to develop them a bit further since this is a highly character-based plot. While there are some great character back stories, flashbacks would have been helpful to enhance them. However, this return-to-hometown for Christmas plot does a great job with avoiding most of the cliches that come with this genre, and it’s a more meaningful Christmas movie than usual, even if the story is a bit simplistic. As a whole, this is an enjoyable story with no glaring errors but nothing truly dynamic either.
Acting Quality (2.5 points)
This film also has surprisingly good acting, including Andrea Logan White’s arguably best performance to date as she excels at playing herself. Other cast members are also effective and comfortable in their roles, even if a few random cast members tend to put a damper on things to keep this section from being perfect. In the end, however, this is a professional acting job to round out a professional and adequate film.
Conclusion
Films like Christmas Manger should be the norm and the baselines in Christian film (especially Christmas movies) rather than the exception. Hopefully, as we close out another year of Christian entertainment, we are beginning to see more of this, which will presumably lead to more dynamic and groundbreaking films from Christian creators. Movies like this one was a good launching pad to begin with, so it will be good to see Andrea Nasfell continue to release quality content that is memorable and culture-changing.
Final Rating: 6.5 out of 10 points
Box Office Revolution 
I’ll watch anything written by Andrea Nasfell, hands down the absolute BEST screenwriter of faith-based films at work today. I’ve been following her work since “What If…” in 2001. This wonder woman never makes a wrong move. Or wastes a word. Miraculous.
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I know right:)
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This was certainly a very surprising movie considering pure flix’s past history of lame movies. Although, probably the main reason for this (no actually the only reason) is because the writer of the movie is Andrea Gyertson Nasfell. Who has given them great assistance here with a realistic plot line and great content in general. Which is not at all surprising considering her past installments of screen writing, for example, Mom’s Night Out, The Resurrection Of Gavin Stone etc. Overall it is actually a watchable movie from pure flix and that’s a miracle in of itself.
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