This Christmas, Give the Gift of ‘Millions’
The Scoop features personal essays on movie-related topics.
Ah, the Christmas season. While it’s supposed to be filled with joy and peace and comfort, it can also be stressful and hectic. Presents to wrap. Cards to address. Various gatherings to organize. And in general, so many things to buy!
In Danny Boyle’s Millions, the frenzy of holiday shopping is intensified by another urgent matter: the UK will soon be converting from pounds to euros… which means folks have only got until Christmas Day to either spend, convert, or donate their pounds before the money becomes worthless.
Young Damian (Alex Etel) can’t understand this fascination with greenbacks. “‘Start with the money,’ he narrates at the beginning. “[Our Anthony says] that’s what people want to know about. Like if you’re moving house, you don’t say ‘we’re moving house, and the new one’s got a green door.’ You say how much you’re paying, how much you got for the old one… mortgage, interest rates, stamp duty, solicitor’s fees, how much you’ll get if the new one goes up in value.”
“Personally, I think ‘so what?’” Damian continues. “Money’s just a thing, and things change.”
He’s certainly right about that: Money becomes the root of his problems when a giant bag full of it literally falls out of the sky, crushing his cardboard fort he’d built by the train tracks. There must be hundreds. Thousands. Millions, even.
I don’t want to give too much away—it’s more fun to watch the plot unfold—but suffice it to say, Damian and Anthony (his money-and-stuff-obsessed older brother) have different ideas of what to do with it: 12-year-old Anthony wants to buy a scuba scooter and a house, among several other things. But Damian wants to use it to help those around him who may need it.
Goodness and Light
The concept of a child actor holding up much of a holiday film is not unique (see: Home Alone, Miracle on 34th Street, Holiday Affair), but in my book, Alex Etel wins the award for the best of ‘em. Damian is about the cutest kid to ever grace a Christmas film, and Etel brings a perfect combination of childhood innocence and a unique grasp of the complexities of his situation.
I also love that despite the various moral dilemmas he faces, Damian doesn’t waver in his desire to do good. Yes, he meets some obstacles, but his sentiment is always, without hesitation, “Oh, do you need help? Brilliant! I’ll help you!”
That’s an example I think we can all learn from.
Damian’s also obsessed with Catholic saints, in the way other small boys might be interested in cars or video games. Many of these saints actually appear throughout the film (only he can see them) and converse with him, offering advice and even lending a helping hand now and then.
Saint Peter, for instance, tells his version of the loaves and fishes miracle: According to him, the same plate of bread and fish merely got passed from person to person.
“Do you know why? ‘Cuz [the first person] had a piece of lamb already in his pocket. And he sneaks a bit of meat out and pretends he took it off the plate… As that plate went ‘round with the sardines on, they all got their [own] food out and started to share.”
When Jesus marveled at the plate, still full, and asked what had happened, Saint Peter simply shrugged. “Miracle!”
“At first, I thought I’d fooled Him,” Saint Peter says. “But now I see it was a miracle. One of His best.”
Who Might Need You?
No, not exactly biblically accurate, but I still love that sentiment. Like every good Christmas classic, Millions points to the humanity and giving nature this season ought to draw out of us. In the midst of the holiday chaos, the film gives me pause and, if you’ll forgive the cliché, reminds me what this season should be about. There’s nothing wrong with receiving gifts, of course—it’s fun, and it’s tradition!—but Damian reminds me to make sure I’m still placing value on the right “things”: Family. Love. Looking out for others.
And that reminder is the greatest gift of all.
“He’s got a good heart,” one character says to Damian about Anthony. “He just… doesn’t know where it is. He’s going to need you... Be good to him.”
This year has been a difficult one for many of us. And during a time when it may be tempting to just crawl into our shells, I instead pose this question to everyone (including myself): Where is your heart this Christmas season? And who might need you?