Christmas With Dad

If you think life is tough, you should try AJ’s on for size. At just 22, he’s a dad/step-dad of seven, with one more on the way.

Connor McCormack has been granted enviable access to AJ’s life on a rough housing estate. Here the kids compete for attention in a council house as the family prepare to celebrate Christmas. There’s a whiff of poverty here, but when Christmas morning comes the house is awash with presents.

This could have been a hatchet job, one of holding AJ’s family up to ridicule or opprobrium. But McCormack’s film digs a lot deeper than that. He allows AJ to tell his story, revealing how his own upbringing has shaped his opinions and showing that he is a much more thoughtful individual than a brief glance at his life might suggest. Not so much lifting the lid on AJ’s life as shining a light on the audience’s expectations and prejudices.