Santa Girl
This is one of the weirdest movies I have ever watched. Perfect for Riffing.
Here is my synopsis of the movie:
So Santa apparently does the whole giving away presents thing as a for-profit business. They are never clear about how they actually make money at this scheme (though it seems to have something to do with slavery).
Mrs Claus died a while ago, and it has made Santa a ruthless businessman. He has a daughter (the main character of the movie) who he is forcing into an arranged marriage to help grow his business empire. She understandably doesn't want to marry some guy she has never met, and instead wants to go to college. Santa is firmly against college.
However her acting out is putting the business merger in jeopardy, so they strike a bargain... she will agree to the arranged marriage and to put the family business first, and in return, she gets to go to college for a semester. She has to return on Christmas eve to marry the guy and take over the family business. Santa sends her servant (they all have servants... and live a wealthy/extravagant lifestyle) with her to keep an eye on her.
So now we basically have a much worse version of Coming to America.
Santa warns her not to use her magic powers (she has magic powers) if she wants to be accepted by the normies, and gives her around a hundred thousand dollars "only for emergencies". They make a big deal about the powers thing, but it never actually seems to come up in the movie. She mainly uses them to sneak into class late, and she is not really careful about not being seen or anything. It doesn't seem to matter or have any repercussions.
It turns out the real magic is the $100k her dad gave her. She just starts buying things for people and becomes (mildly) popular as a result. She also wins people over by being Kimmy Schmitt. Her character is basically a rich Kimmy Schmitt with mildly useful magic powers.
The main plot revolves around two boys fighting over her affection, while she is completely clueless that dating is a thing. She just thinks they are super friendly, despite the fact that they both quickly and repeatedly declare their intention to pursue her romantically.
Plot twist! It turns out that one of the boys is actually secretly the guy she is being forced to marry.
Double plot twist! Said boy is being forced to woo her by his obviously-evil father to make sure the business deal goes through. Good thing he has actually started to like her for realsies. But now he can't tell her that he has been lying to her without risking the marriage.
Triple plot twist! The other boy is being paid by the first boy's father to spy on the girl! You see, the father was worried that she might be interested in the second boy, and call off the marriage, so to prevent that... he pays the second boy to "keep an eye on her and make sure she stays safe". Second boy is like, well I was going to do that anyway, so I guess I will take your money.
So here is where a regular movie would be predictable... but not this movie! See, a normal (******) movie would have the father reveal that he was paying the 2nd boy and she would get angry at him. But, no, he toys with that idea, but instead decides to make a bunch of memes about how she is from the north pole, pay some mean girls to make fun of her about it, and then frame the 2nd boy for that.
It is all very confusing at this point. Her servant elf seems the most upset by the racially insensitive portrayal of elves in the meme, but it does successfully drive a wedge between her and 2nd boy.
Second boy then tries to make amends. He tells her that he didn't do the meme thing, but he is like: I was taking money to spy on you... just not the meme thing. Without even taking a breath, he is like: I have been spying on you for money, will you be my girlfriend? She is like: Why did you think that would make things better?
She isn't really that upset about the spying though. Just water off a duck's back. She is still angry about the meme. She says she is going to go to the dance with 1st boy... but just as friends, because she doesn't want to risk the business merger.
At the dance, 1st boy decides he needs to come clean and tells her who he is and proposes to her. He really does love her, and it isn't just about the business. 2nd boy storms in and says that 1st boy framed him for the meme. 1st boy is like: I didn't, but my dad probably did, that guy is a ****. She tells 2nd boy that she is in love with him (in front of 1st boy), but that the business comes first... then accepts boy 1's proposal. 1st boy is like, I guess that works.
Cut to the wedding. Santa is like, I have made a horrible mistake, but I can't get out of this contract I signed with boy 1's father... so I guess you will have to marry him.
Plot twist! Boy 2 is studying to be a lawyer. Santa leaves to go find him to see if there is a loophole in the contract!
Girl is all-in on the wedding, but is waiting for her father to return because she wants him to be there. Boy 1's father is like: NO! You must start the wedding now... or I will use a clause in the contract to cancel Christmas forever! Muahahah. Girl is like, sigh, fine.
Wedding starts and Boy 1 is like, do we actually know what we are doing here? I mean I like you, but do I want to marry you? We haven't actually been on a formal date yet. They cut right to the "Does anyone object?" bit.
Now, again, a normal movie would have Santa storm in and stop it, or maybe Boy 2... but here Girl is the one who says... actually, I object. I know I was all-in on this two seconds ago, but I changed my mind. Can I do that? The priest / normal-sized-leprechaun, says that yes, she doesn't have to get married if she doesn't want to. Boy 1 is like: Thank god!
Now Santa and Boy 2 storm in to stop the wedding, and everyone was like, yeah it has already been called off.
Evil father is like, but we have a contract! And Santa is like: talk to my lawyer, and presents boy 2. Boy 2 finds a legal loophole that voids the contract. Evil dad is like Nooooo! and then girl uses her magic powers to make him trip into cake. Girl kisses boy 2, and boy 1 is like... you know what, you two are cute together, I approve! Santa is like: No kissing before marriage, but do you want to spend the night?
Then the movie wraps up with about 10 minutes of talk about business and "numbers". Apparently, the giving stuff away business hasn't been as lucrative as you would think. How are they going to keep the business going without an influx of cash from the business deal they just torpedoed? Santa is like, that is a problem, but don't worry your pretty little head about it. Sometimes if you don't think about a problem, it goes away (that was actually the point they sort of made). Also, nostalgia is nice. But not to worry, the tooth fairy is flirting with Santa, and if he were to "merge" with her... wink, wink, nudge, nudge.
The end!
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Ryan commented
Just saw this on Netflix and I kept thinking it would be an awesome holiday movie for Rifftrax to take on. My wife described it as "the holiday movie your friends come up with after eating a bunch of shrooms and staying out in the forest a day too long."
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Jon commented
I forgot to mention that she *only* seems to eat candy (to the horror of people around her who are genuinely worried for her health). But then during the depression montage where she is mad at boy 2, she is moping around eating lettuce on a plate. They have a montage of her eating lettuce while sad.
I was on the floor laughing.