A Christmas Carol (2022 film)

***A Christmas Carol*** is a 2022 British Christmas fantasy drama television film based on the 1943 novella by Charles Dickens. It was written and directed by James Thompson, and stars Malcolm McDowell as Ebenezer Scrooge, an old man who dislikes Christmas and is visited by spirits who show him the true meaning of Christmas.

It was broadcast on Murro in two parts on the 24th and 25th of December 2022.

## Plot

In 1836, businessman Ebenezer Scrooge reluctantly attends the funeral of his deceased business partner, Jacob Marley.

Seven years later on Christmas Eve 1843, Scrooge still runs his store in London called Scrooge and Marley. His remaining employee, Bob Cratchit, is barely paid anything and is constantly chastised by Scrooge for his habits. Scrooge declines to attend his his nephew Fred's invitation to Christmas dinner and refuses make a donation to the poor. Bob asks Scrooge for a day off on Christmas Day, which he allows as long as he turns up the day after and to conform the social custom. When Scrooge returns home, he encounters the ghost of Marley, who tells him that he will be visited by three spirits in order to fix Scrooge's ways.

The first spirit, the Ghost of Christmas Past, takes Scrooge to his childhood, revealing his lonely time at a boarding school, his relationship with his sister Fern, and a Christmas party hosted by his first employer Mr Fezziwig. Scrooge's fiancée Belle is seen ending her relationship with him due to him neglecting her for money. They then visit a now-married Belle who now has large family who celebrate on the night that Marley died. An overwhelmed Scrooge demands that the spirit remove him from the house and then extinguishes the spirit with a candle horn.

Later, Scrooge meets the jolly Ghost of Christmas Present who takes him to a market, where people buy ingredients for a Christmas dinner. Next, they go to a miners' cottage and a lighthouse where people celebrate Christmas. They then go to Fred's house where Christmas is celebrated with games. Afterwards, they go to Bob Cratchit's house, where his son, Tiny Tim, is seriously ill. The spirit explains that Tim will die if Scrooge doesn't change the course of events. Before leaving, the spirit shows Scrooge two hideously deformed children named Ignorance and Want. It tells Scrooge to beware the former above all and mocks Scrooge's concern for their welfare.

Alone in a dark alleyway, Scrooge then meets the mysterious and silent Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. The spirit shows Scrooge three businessmen who discuss the death of a colleague, who will only go to the funeral if lunch is provided. Scrooge notices his possessions have been stolen by his charwoman, laundress and the local undertaker and have been sold to a fencer. Scrooge is then transported to the house of the Cratchits, who are mourning the death of Tim. They vow to keep the boy with them in all they say and do. Scrooge is then taken to a graveyard during a snowstorm where he finds his grave, revealing him to be the one whose possessions was stolen. Before Scrooge is transported to hell, he promises to the spirit that he will keep Christmas in his heart for the better and begs to it for him to be spared.

As Scrooge falls into the coffin, he wakes up and discovers that it is Christmas morning. He decides to send a large prize-winning turkey to the Cratchits, greed everyone on the streets of London, and makes a big donation to the poor. He then goes to Fred's house for Christmas dinner. The next morning, Scrooge decides to increase Bob's salary and make him his new business partner. A narration explains that Scrooge became a father figure to Tim and now embodies the spirit of Christmas, like the spirits taught him.