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The is a New York drama so laidback that it has taken a decade to reach the UK’s cinema screens. Initially unveiled in the US in 2015, it’s a micro-budget first feature from first-time director Charles Poekel, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style remains decidedly genuinely independent and naturalistic to get slushy or sentimental about Christmas; in his view Christmas tree lights blink like police lights. But in its own low-key way, he pitches his film just right for a little squeeze of festive warmth.

A Jaded Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold

Kentucker Audley portrays Noel (it took someone in the film to comment on his name for the connection to be made). Noel is back for his fifth year selling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, standing outside in the freezing cold and sleeping in a barely warmer caravan stationed beside the trees. Several patrons inquire after the girl working with him last year. But this year Noel works solo, broken-hearted and working the night shift.

There’s an observational quality to many of the scenes, with customers asking pointless random questions. A customer requests the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (the story is set in 2014). Noel looks numb with cold physically and emotionally; he’s weary and disillusioned, though Audley’s subtle performance makes it clear that he wasn’t always like this.

Understated Encounters and Glimmers of Hope

In truth, the plot is minimal. Noel comes to the aid of a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has collapsed drunk on a bench. She pops up again later in some genuinely moving scenes as Noel travels through New York, delivering trees – and these sequences could spark a little flicker of good cheer in the grinchiest of hearts. Poekel hasn’t made a feature since this, which is a shame – it is unmatched for authenticity and fluidity, and it’s filmed on gorgeously textured 16mm film.

A film of understated appeal and authentic atmosphere, capturing the solitude and fleeting warmth of the season.

Christmas, Again arrives in UK cinemas from 12 December.