Alice Oscura, Featured Writer
Plot: Bastian (Luke Mockridge) returns home from Berlin for the Christmas holidays only to learn that his brother Niklas (Lucas Reiber) is now dating his ex-girlfriend Fine (Cristina do Rego). Bastian is also trying to cope with his fear of failure about becoming a successful musician.
Review: Over Christmas aka Über Weihnachten is a three-part miniseries starring German comedian Luke Mockridge as Bastian. The series is a fun blend of comedy mixed with family and relationship drama. Mockridge’s character delivers some extremely amusing jokes through his imaginative daydreams. However, Bastian is on a slow descent as he is struggling to come to terms with Niklas and Fine’s relationship, his failure with his music career and the sneaking suspicion that his parents are hiding a secret from him.
The thing that most endears me to this series is how hard the mother tries to hold fast to the family Christmas traditions despite the fact that the relationships between the rest of the members of the family were on the brink of collapsing. But I would say that the imminent collapse revolved mostly around Bastian because he needed to come to terms with a lot of issues and he had a lot of maturing to do as well.
There’s also a whole bunch of likeable supporting characters to take your pick from since sometimes Bastian can be a bit hard to take during certain moments of the series. Plus, the awesome chemistry between Bastian and Karina (Seyneb Saleh) his new love interest is off the charts, and the development of their relationship is quite believable because basically everyone in the town knows each other and have grown up together. Grandma Hilde (Carmen-Maja Antoni) is not only wise but is absolutely hilarious. She cracked me up every time she was in a scene because she has no lid for her mouth, and she’s obsessed with the Die Hard movies.
Part 3 was my absolute fav because Bastian not only comes to terms with his shortcomings but finally understands why his parents are keeping a secret from him. Then, he has to deal with some fallout because he basically busts everyone’s files out in public, almost ruining the rest of the holiday. But in seeking redemption he rekindles his love and ambition for music, gains a new love and truly understands the depths of his family’s love for him.
A lot of us are like Bastian which makes his character totally relatable. Sometimes we lack a direction in life, and we feel like sometimes we don’t have the familial support. But sometimes all it takes is taking a simple step back and looking at yourself in the mirror. Also, as you know from my previous reviews, I always preach how important family traditions are in creating memories because you never know what the future has in store. Take some time to create some traditions and explain to the little ones how important it is to cherish and keep the spirit and family together even through the rocky moments of life.
Over Christmas is an excellent holiday mini-series that you can enjoy with your significant other to have a barrel of laughs and some tearjerking moments this season.
Alice’s Score: 7.5 out of 10
For my review of Netflix romcom Christmas series Dash & Lily you can click here.
Dark Alice has an old soul and a curious mind. I believe that anyone can be a hero and that the good guys should always win! I dislike cruelty to animals and think that they have far superior qualities to humans. My motto is there is no future without the past. I also have a weird penchant for Paranormal TV shows even though the slightest sound makes me jump.
I enjoy writing reviews and throwing in fun facts to pique the readers’ curiosity. My ultimate goal in life would be to become a published writer one day. You can find me as Dark Alice Reviews on Facebook, my Instagram is alice_oscura and my Twitter handle is @lise_veliz2. For more on me you can click here.