Klaus (2019)

With just 40 days til Christmas, Netflix has launched its highly anticipated festive film about Jesper (Jason Schwartzman), the postal academy’s worst student, who discovers a reclusive carpenter who makes toys in the tiny town in the Arctic circle where Jesper has been stationed.

Jesper finds an ally in Alva (Rashida Jones), the local teacher, who agrees that the feuding locals should learn the art of writing and sending letters, especially at Christmastime, and that laughter needs to return to Smeerensburg.

Listen out for the voices of Joan Cusack and JK Simmons.

RogerEbert.com says, “It’s a treat to see a modern animated film that isn’t afraid of absurd sight gags and bleakly funny lines of dialogue”, and Times (UK) calls Klaus “boldly ambitious and gloriously free from Christmas cliches”.