Christmess

Christmess is a 2023 Australian Christmas film written and directed by Heath Davis.

Premise
Three recovering addicts try to get through the festive season without relapsing, in Campbelltown, a suburb in western Sydney, Australia.

Cast

 * Hannah Joy as Joy
 * Steve Le Marquand as Chris Flint
 * Darren Gilshenan as Nick
 * Aaron Glenane as Jeff
 * Nicole Pastor as Noelle
 * George Burgess as a Doorman/bouncer

Production
An independent Australian film, Christmess is written and directed by Heath Davis. Davis began writing an “authentic” Christmas film after Christmas 2020 when he spent time in isolation during the COVID-19 pandemic without work or family, and watched a lot of “bad Christmas films”.

It is produced by Daniel Fenech, Cindy Pritchard, and Matthew McCracken. Funding for the film partially came from crowd-funding.

Casting
The film marks the feature film acting debut of Hannah Joy, the lead singer with rock band Middle Kids. Joy wrote several original songs for Christmess, including Empty Chair, Deadbeat Dads, and Boxing Day and performs all three songs in character during the film.

Filming
Principal photography got underway in Sydney in June 2022 with a three-week filming schedule.

Release
The film had its world premiere at the Austin Film Festival on 29 October 2023. It was released in Australia on 30 November 2023.

Reception
Nadine Whitney in The Curb described the film as "painful, hopeful, gentle, and funny as hell".

Luke Buckmaster in The Guardian described it as "a very absorbing film, tenderly written and directed".

Other films by Heath Davis
Heath Davis directed Book Week , released in 2018. This film was nominated for the AACTA Award for Best Indie Film in the 9th AACTA Awards in 2019.