“Christmas Can Be Bleak”: Heath Davis On His New Movie ‘Christmess’
Do you remember what Christmas looked like in 2020? Though most memories from that time have understandably been repressed, some of us will distinctly recall its bittersweet and distant nature. Though some restrictions had been lifted in certain parts of the country, it was far from the full-fledged celebration it normally tends to be — and even if it was, the preceding year had given folks precious little to celebrate in the first place, beyond mere survival.
All of this was weighing on Heath Davis’s mind as he sat around the house that December. The filmmaker, who has been working as an independent director in Australia for 20 years, was watching what he describes as “all the bad Christmas movies” with his partner when the idea for his next film Christmess began to take shape. “I’d had a shit time — I had a movie ready with a pretty big British actor and a pretty good budget, and then Covid torpedoed everything,” he says.
“That Christmas was the first one where neither of us really had that family connection — most of our loved ones we couldn’t see because they either had or just had Covid. A lot of our friends found themselves in the same boat. The Christmas that was being portrayed in these movies… it didn’t feel real at all. None of them resonated.”
It gave Heath pause for thought as to what an authentic Christmas movie would look like — and, more importantly, what such a film would look like through an Australian lens. In his experience, Christmas often resembled something a lot deeper and darker than simply snow and reindeer.
“It can be a very, very stressful time,” he says. “It can be lonely, and it can be bleak. It’s a particularly bad time for those with mental health issues and those dealing with substance abuse. A lot of people find themselves drinking just to get through Christmas itself — and, in my experience, nothing has ever been told like that.”
Even before he began writing Christmess, Heath had an indelible image burned into the back of his imagination. It was of Last Train to Freo star Steve Le Marquand, a longtime collaborator of Heath’s, draped in a Santa costume — the cheeriest get-up known to man, as worn by a decidedly gruff and intense-looking bloke.
“His very first job was actually as the shopping centre Santa at Penrith Plaza,” Heath recalls. “It was always so funny to me — not least of all because he was taking acid at the time. That image of Steve — this real alpha-male type of guy — in his little Santa outfit… it never left my mind.”
In Christmess, Steve plays Chris — a has-been actor that’s now a recovering alcoholic who can now only get a gig as Santa at the local mall. Back out in the real world, he attempts to reconnect with his estranged daughter Noelle (played by Teenage Kicks‘ Nicole Pastor) with the assistance of an unlikely pairing: his sponsor Nick (No Activity’s Darren Gilshenan) and a musician that’s also in recovery (Middle Kids frontwoman Hannah Joy).
This blend of both biological and chosen family is something Heath often thinks about around this time of year, given how literally close to home the holiday season can hit for people. “Everyone has their own individual sense of family,” he says. “That’s interesting to me, and I wanted to explore that.
“A lot of the time, people find themselves in shared space with people that they really don’t like or don’t feel really get them, but we’re forced to because of those biology ties. I’ve also got a lot of friends that are expats, who don’t get to see their families at Christmas time. To them, their family is their mates. It’s all about human connection, and to me? That’s the true meaning of Christmas.”
Hannah’s inclusion in the cast of Christmess has drawn eyes to the project — not least of all because it marks the singer’s official acting debut, aside from appearing in Middle Kids music videos. Though Heath describes their original bond as merely being “Facebook friends” he decided to send the script to her regardless, as her own stories of addiction recovery had inspired key elements of Christmess.
“If you listen to Middle Kids’ songs, a lot of them have to do with Hannah’s relationship with alcohol,” he says (she confirmed as much for songs such as their 2021 single ‘Questions’). “She’s very open about that, and I’d been toying with the idea of a musician character for the movie given how many muso mates have struggled with substance abuse. Plus, music is synonymous with Christmas, right? She must have thought I was crazy when I showed her the script, but it seemed to be the right time given the band couldn’t tour at that point. A couple of days later, she got back to me and said she wanted to do it.”
After a socially-distanced meeting — which was the style at the time — Hannah came on board. Her presence in contrast to veteran actors like Steve and Darren was not lost on Heath , but he sings her praises for not only adapting to this new creative environment but also for committing to it properly. “On her own accord, without talking to any of us, she enrolled in a short course at NIDA,” he recalls. “Imagine that! All these theatre students, most of whom would already be Middle Kids fans, and the singer walks in!
“Casting her was one of the biggest creative risks I’ve ever taken, but Hannah was honestly a complete natural. It’s a daunting prospect, having all these lights and cameras in your face all day, but we surrounded her with a lot of love and support — Steve and Darren, especially, were really generous with her. Between the cast and us in the crew, the whole thing became like a family — and I think the camera picks up on that energy especially.”
Christmess premiered at the Dendy in Newtown, Sydney last week, and Heath is already rapt with how his unlikely Christmas story is being received. He knew full well going into the making of this film that he’d be up against it: Australian films have largely been ignored by the general public for years, and pitching such a darkly-comic and distinctly antipodean story to an international audience is not a task for the faint-hearted. It’s these odds against him, however, that made Heath want to push Christmess even further.
“Mate, I grew up in Western Sydney,” he says. “Penrith, Mount Druitt. I’ve had to kick the glass in from the outside from the start. ‘I’ll show you!’ That kind of mentality. Australia has this very ‘no’ attitude to everything. We’re very negative. If you succeed, you get shot down. Filmmakers don’t go and see one another’s films, and actors won’t go and see films they’re not in either. It’s all down to government funding, and there’s all this sniping and jealousy if this person got it over that person. I’m 45, I’m too old for all of that now.
“I just like hanging out with people — it’s more fun that way. What better way to do that than to get to the cinema? This is something with an emotional resonance — I’ve seen it in the audiences that have watched it already. I feel like we’ve made something that will really connect. Christmas can be a tough time, and if this movie can make people really stop to think about it? That’s all I really want at the end of the day.”
Christmess is out now. For participating cinemas and screening dates, visit the Christmess Facebook page.
David James Young is a writer from Wollongong, wishing you a happy and safe holiday season however you choose to spend it or celebrate it. He can be found on Instagram at @djywrites.
Image: Supplied