GRANDMOTHER’S GOLD
If you’re looking for an unconventional Christmas movie that isn’t DIE HARD, I've made a tradition of watching the lesser-known and criminally underrated GRANDMOTHER’S GOLD every holiday season since it first came out. Originally posted to YouTube by actor, comedian, and filmmaker Brian Jordan Alvarez in 2018, the movie stars Alvarez and much of the cast of his other self-produced works, including the webseries THE GAY AND WONDROUS LIFE OF CALEB GALLO. It opens on a rather melodramatic scene in the distant year 2023 as siblings Danny and Madeline argue with their parents during Thanksgiving dinner, but things pretty quickly take a left turn into absurdity after the characters casually mention that it’s been three years since the internet was completely shut down. When they wake up the morning before Christmas to find that all of Los Angeles has lost power and the economy has crashed, Danny and Madeline join forces with their friends on a quest to find their estranged grandmother and her stash of gold. This movie definitely appeals to me as someone who isn’t particularly nostalgic for typical holiday fare, but it also manages to neatly wrap everything up in a feel-good Christmas movie message about the power of friendship and family.
—Lauren Kirksey, Development Intern
