We Need To Talk About ‘Crackers’, The Wildly Chaotic Australian Christmas Movie Nobody Remembers
Released in 1998, 'Crackers' could be considered a Christmas-version of 'The Castle' only with more drugs, death, and dog shit.
In the opening scene of Crackers, 12-year old Joey stands, eyes closed, on the roof of his school, ready to jump. Below, his classmates chant jump, jump, jump until Joey, eyes still closed, tips himself forward and falls. I would love to say things look up for Joey from here, but this isn’t your typical Christmas movie.
Released in 1998, Crackers is about Joey Dredge (Daniel Kellie) coming to terms with his mother dating again after the tragic death of his father in an aircraft accident. While the plot doesn’t exactly scream Christmas movie, Crackers follows Joey, his mother Hilary (Susan Lyons), and her new boyfriend Bruno (Peter Rowsthorn) — who you’ll recognise as Brett Craig from Kath & Kim — as they attend what is, on first glance, the family Christmas from hell.
Growing up, my sister and I would rent Crackers from Blockbuster every December. In hindsight, the fact that it was always available, ready to rent whenever we decided the time was right, should have been enough to tell me that watching this film at Christmas wasn’t a universal experience. Still, I’ve always wondered why Crackers never became the Australian Christmas phenomenon it should have been.
Australian Culture Is Not Believing In Christmas Miracles
“You’re not going to be happy until you’re dead, are you?” Hilary asks Joey in the film’s second scene, before telling him they’ll be spending Christmas at his grandpa Jack’s house — and that she’s invited her new boyfriend Bruno and his punk son Angus along. Chaos ensues. By the seven-minute mark, Joey has been called a dickhead, nearly died in the back of a silver Ford Falcon station wagon driven by an adult man with road rage, and heard his mum whimper, “I hate Christmas — I hate it”.
During the first meal the Dredge family eat together, black blow flies swarm over plates of burnt sausages, potato salad, slices of white bread layered thick with what I can only assume is margarine, and a VB longneck.
What Crackers lacks in Christmas spirit, it makes up for in relatability.
“There’s nothing wrong with this kid that a swift kick up the arse wouldn’t fix,” Grandpa Jack scoffs, as they argue over whether or not Joey should be seeing a therapist following the death of his father. It’s a line most young Australians can imagine someone in their life barking out over a beer, before swiftly changing the topic to criticise someone — in Crackers‘ case, fashion photographer Bruno — for pursing a career in the arts. What Crackers lacks in Christmas spirit, it makes up for in relatability.
Chaos Layered On Top Of Chaos
It’s difficult to explain exactly what happens in Crackers because so much — arguably too much — happens. There’s a punch up at the local pub, drugs, dog shit, and death. For an hour and 29 minutes, it feels as though everything that could go wrong at the Dredge’s family Christmas does, leaving characters buried alive in shallow graves, unknowingly eating mince pies spiked with weed, and quite literally burned to a crisp over barbecue flames.
Crackers is a tender reminder of the humour in dysfunction and the unnecessary pressure we put on ourselves — and our families — at Christmas time.
In a 1998 interview with The Movie Show, Director David Swan mused that “Christmas is a traffic accident for most families”. And while, sure, that might not be the case for all families, it potentially explains how my sister and I found humour within the chaos of Crackers, happily adding it to our annual movie rotation along with The Grinch, The Santa Clause, and Elf. As children, we are drawn to what we know and — like many Australian families — the uncomfortable family drama of Crackers felt less out of place at Christmas than any snow storms, sleighs, or carols.
Though Crackers has been compared to The Castle, it’s more complex than that, peeling back the novelty of Australian culture to unveil raw layers of grief, forgiveness, and family that sting most at Christmas time. It is a good movie? I honestly can’t be sure. But for anyone whose childhood summer holidays were served with a sprinkle of chaos, Crackers is a tender reminder of the humour in dysfunction and the unnecessary pressure we put on ourselves — and our families — at Christmas time.
You can watch Crackers on SBS On Demand.