The Best Christmas Pageant Ever (2024) [Blu-Ray]

Director: Dallas Jenkins

Cast: Judy Greer, Pete Holmes, Molly Belle Wright

Release Date: October 28, 2025

A Review By: Kevin Lovell

Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

Synopsis:

The Herdmans are absolutely the worst kids in the history of the world. They lie, they steal, they bully…and now they’ve hijacked the town Christmas pageant. Directed by Dallas Jenkins (“The Chosen”) and based on the international bestseller by Barbara Robinson, THE BEST CHRISTMAS PAGEANT EVER follows six siblings who sneak into church searching for snacks and walk away with the lead roles in the town pageant. Grace (Judy Greer) is directing the performance for the very first time, but she and her daughter Beth (Molly Belle Wright) and husband Bob (Pete Holmes) are in over their heads, especially against a town that wants them to kick the Herdmans out. But the play’s mischievous stars might unwittingly teach a community the true meaning of Christmas.

‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ tells the story of a town where the annual Christmas Pageant is a pretty big deal, and with this year’s celebration marking the 75th Anniversary of the event pressure is higher than ever to deliver. But when the woman who has been in charge of running it forever is accidentally injured it ends up in the hands of kindhearted mom Grace, everything seems to be starting out promisingly until The Herdmans, a family of troublemakers largely disliked by the townsfolk end up joining and taking over many of the big roles from the other kids. Now Grace will have to decide whether to heed the warnings of the other locals and kick them out or give them the chance that she feels they deserve and try to show the others the true meaning of Christmas.

Directed by Dallas Jenkins (TV’s The Chosen, The Resurrection of Gavin Stone) from a screenplay written by Ryan Swanson (TV’s The Chosen) and Platte F. Clark (Davie & Golimyr) & Darin McDaniel (The Evil Inside Me), based upon the novel by Barbara Robinson, Jenkins does a nice job at the helm of ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ guiding along the sweet and moving tale with hope and heart. The film’s cast includes Judy Greer (TV’s Stick), Pete Holmes (Family Switch), Molly Belle Wright (Omaha) and Lauren Graham (TV’s The Mighty Ducks: Game Changers) along with more and the majority each offer capable performances for the most part in their respective roles.

‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ is a light, heartfelt and at times fairly humorous family film with a rewarding message at its core. It’s a delightfully simple film that celebrates the holiday season and the question of what really is most important during that time of year. Exploring a tightknit community that struggles with the antics and chaos created by a family of children that live on the outskirts without as much as most in town and dives into the rift that results when they show up unexpectedly at the local church and become adamant about starring in the beloved Christmas pageant. It offers an emotional look at both the misery and beauty that can arise from such a scenario and how things can be misconstrued or complicated when those less fortunate merely believe their actions are necessary to survive in a world where everyone seems to be better off than they are.

It exudes heart and acceptance throughout and while it does perhaps get a bit too emotional and sappy with some of the material, it always has its heart in the right place, with a capable cast to help back it all up including a surprisingly talented collection of young actors in many of the bigger roles that do an impressive job. It is in many ways a religious film yet one that is approached in a manner that’s not overly aggressive and finds a nice balance that allows for it to be thoroughly enjoyed regardless of your beliefs, with an overlying message of kindness and understanding that everyone can appreciate always shining through.

Overall, ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ delivers a touching film that celebrates the holiday season and always has its heart in the right place. It’s filled with plenty of hope, beauty and kindness as well as its share of laughs, plus a rewarding message of kindness and a solid cast led by Judy Greer and Pete Holmes to back it all up. It’s a light-hearted tale in many respects with almost no questionable or offensive content within that should allow for a perfect selection for the entire family to enjoy together without worry. If you’re at all interested in the tale or are a fan of the novel on which its based, then ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ is recommended and should offer plenty to appreciate whether you’re a fairly religious person or you simply enjoy a beautiful Christmas film with more than enough heart to go around.

VIDEO:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ features a full 1080p High Definition presentation with the film’s original 2.39:1 Aspect Ratio. The video presentation looks terrific as a whole and it offers a clean, sharp and nicely detailed presentation from start to finish that never suffers from any unexpected issues or troubles to be found along the way. Detail is solid on characters, clothing and the Holiday-spruced surroundings both indoors and out, while coloring is clean and rich and black levels remain suitably deep and problem free throughout. Overall, this is a very nice High Definition video presentation that holds up well at every turn and should easily satisfy fans and first time viewers alike.

AUDIO:

The Blu-ray release features a Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 channel compatible) soundtrack. Please note that this review pertains solely to the Dolby TrueHD 7.1 audio presentation. This multichannel soundtrack offers a crisp, clean and at times somewhat immersive audio presentation throughout. While not a film that’s packed with a great deal of logical reasons to utilize the full surround experience very consistently, it does take advantage of all seven available channels on occasion in order to send music and some nature effects and crowd noise throughout the various speakers, while always ensuring that the dialogue and other audio elements remain clean and fully audible. Overall, this is a solid Dolby Atmos (Dolby TrueHD 7.1 compatible) soundtrack that delivers in every way required of it and doesn’t disappoint.

SPECIAL FEATURES:

The Blu-ray release of ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ offers a nice collection of bonus content that includes an ‘Audio Commentary with Director Dallas Jenkins and Producer Kevin Downes’, in addition to some ‘Deleted Scenes’ (running approximately 7 minutes in length altogether) and ‘Bloopers’ (running approximately 7 minutes). We are also treated to various Behind the Scenes Featurettes that feature interviews/comments with the cast and crew, plus some behind the scenes footage and more. They include ‘Herding the Kids’ (approximately 5 minutes), ‘Director’s Diary’ (8 minutes), ‘All About the Pageantry: Creating the Look’ (6 minutes), ‘Legacy of the Christmas Pageant’ (6 minutes) and ‘The Least of These’ (7 minutes). The film’s ‘Trailer’ (2 minutes) is also included.

*Please note that the above images are taken from the Blu-Ray and resized. They will additionally suffer quality loss as a result of .jpg compression. Larger versions of each image can be viewed by clicking on the image. All images and content included on this Blu-Ray release are the property of their respective owners.

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Film Rating: 7.5/10
Disc Rating: 8/10

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‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ Arrives on Blu-ray & DVD October 28, 2025 & is Now Available on Digital from Kingdom Story Company & Lionsgate

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You can purchase ‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ on Blu-ray at Amazon HERE!

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