"Christmas movies," I said again, watching four identical faces stare at like I’d just declared the alphabet was now reversed. "It’s my favorite holiday, so whoever can na the most Christmas movies gets to go first."
The breakfast room went dead silent except for the sound of Iris trying not to laugh behind her phone cara.
"Christmas movies," Vivienne repeated slowly, like she was testing the words for hidden explosives.
"Yep. Simple competition. Clean. Fair. Nobody can accuse anyone of cheating because either you know movies or you don’t."
Cassidy’s eyes narrowed. "What’s the catch?"
"No catch. Just pure, unadulterated movie trivia." I leaned back in my chair, arms crossed. "Unless you’re scared you don’t know enough Christmas movies to compete with your sisters."
"I know PLENTY of Christmas movies," Cassidy shot back imdiately.
"Then prove it."
Harlow bounced on her toes. "Ooh! Ooh! I love this ga! I watch like a million Christmas movies every December! This is going to be so fun!"
Sabrina set her book down completely, which ant she was taking this seriously. "Rules?"
"Standard quiz show format. Take turns naming movies. You get ten seconds to answer. Repeat a movie that’s already been nad and you’re out. Can’t answer in ti and you’re out. Last girl standing wins."
"What about different versions of the sa movie?" Sabrina asked. "There are three different Scrooge adaptations I can think of off the top of my head."
Smart girl. Already thinking strategically.
"Specify the year or the main actor and Iris will fact-check you," I said. "But they have to be legitimately different movies, not just director’s cuts or whatever."
"Sequels?" Vivienne asked.
"No. Ho Alone and Ho Alone 2 don’t count as separate entries. Pick one."
Cassidy cracked her knuckles like she was preparing for a tennis match. "This is going to be embarrassing for all of you."
"Says the girl who thought Die Hard was a romantic cody," Vivienne murmured.
"IT HAS ROMANTIC ELENTS!"
"It has EXPLOSIONS!"
"Explosions can be romantic!"
"In what universe?"
"In the universe where the guy saves his wife and they kiss at the end!"
"He saves her from TERRORISTS!"
"Still counts!"
I held up a hand before they could descend back into chaos. "Harlow goes first since she volunteered. Then Sabrina, then Cassidy, then Vivienne. Keep going until three of you are eliminated."
Harlow clapped her hands together, practically vibrating with excitent. "This is the best morning ever! Okay, um, Christmas movie..." She tapped her chin thoughtfully. "The Nightmare Before Christmas!"
Solid opener. Classic, popular, hard to argue with.
Sabrina didn’t even hesitate. "White Christmas."
Cassidy’s turn. She smirked. "Die Hard."
"OH CO ON!" Vivienne exploded.
"It counts!" Cassidy insisted. "It takes place at Christmas! There are Christmas songs! The guy says ’Ho ho ho’ at one point!"
"That doesn’t make it a Christmas movie!"
I looked at Iris. "Fact check?"
Iris consulted her phone with the serious expression of a Supre Court justice reviewing constitutional law. "Technically, Die Hard is classified as an action thriller set during Christmas, but many film scholars and critics consider it a Christmas movie due to its thes of family reunion, redemption, and the Christmas Eve setting being integral to the plot."
Cassidy threw her arms up in victory. "BOOM! I told you!"
Vivienne’s eye twitched. "Fine. Miracle on 34th Street."
Back to Harlow. "A Christmas Story!"
"It’s a Wonderful Life," Sabrina said imdiately.
Cassidy grinned wickedly. "Die Hard 2."
"THAT’S A SEQUEL!" Vivienne protested.
"Different bad guys! Different airport! Different Christmas!"
I shook my head. "Sequels don’t count. Pick sothing else. If a sequel is said again it’s an instant out."
Cassidy’s grin faltered. "Seriously?"
"Seriously."
She huffed. "Fine. The Santa Clause."
"Ho Alone," Vivienne said.
"Love Actually!" Harlow practically sang the title.
"The Holiday," Sabrina added smoothly.
Cassidy paused for three seconds. Four. Five.
"Elf!" she blurted out.
Close call, but still under the wire.
Vivienne looked thoughtful. "A Christmas Carol. The 1984 version with George C. Scott."
Smart. Specific.
"Jingle All the Way!" Harlow announced.
"The Polar Express," Sabrina said.
The pace was picking up now. Cassidy’s confidence from earlier was starting to crack as she realized this wasn’t going to be the easy victory she’d expected.
"Um..." Cassidy bit her lip. "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer?"
"The animated one from 1964?" I asked.
"Yes! That one!"
Vivienne nodded approvingly. "National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation."
"How the Grinch Stole Christmas! The original cartoon one!" Harlow added quickly.
Sabrina’s lips curved slightly. "Bad Santa."
Cassidy blinked. "Wait, what? That’s a Christmas movie?"
"It’s literally about a mall Santa. During Christmas. With Christmas music."
"But it’s rated R!"
"So is Die Hard, which you tried to use."
"That’s different!"
"How?"
"Because... because..." Cassidy’s face scrunched up in frustration. "Because shut up!"
"Eloquent as always," Vivienne comnted dryly. "Arthur Christmas."
They were getting into the deeper cuts now. Harlow’s encyclopedic knowledge of feel-good movies was showing.
"The Muppet Christmas Carol!" she announced cheerfully.
"Gremlins," Sabrina said, which made everyone pause.
"Wait, is Gremlins a Christmas movie?" Cassidy asked.
"Takes place during Christmas. Christmas is integral to the plot. The mogwai are given as a Christmas present."
Iris nodded. "Confird Christmas movie."
Cassidy looked panicked. The ten-second countdown was ticking in her head, and she was clearly running out of obvious choices.
"Four Christmases!" she said desperately.
"Last Holiday," Vivienne replied imdiately.
"The Santa Clause 2!" Harlow said, then imdiately clapped a hand over her mouth. "Wait, no! Sequels don’t count!"
"You’re out," I said.
Harlow’s face fell. "Aww! But I knew so many more!"
"Rules are rules, sunshine."
She pouted but stepped back, still bouncing slightly on her toes as she watched the remaining three competitors.
Sabrina looked completely calm, like she was just getting ward up. "Scrooged."
Cassidy was sweating now. I could practically see her ntally cycling through every Christmas movie she’d ever heard of, trying to find sothing the others hadn’t said yet.
"The... the Christmas Chronicles?" she said uncertainly.
"Which one?" Vivienne asked. "There are two."
"The first one! With Kurt Russell!"
Vivienne nodded. "Acceptable. Klaus."
"What the hell is Klaus?" Cassidy demanded.
"Animated Netflix movie about the origin of Santa Claus," Sabrina explained. "Won several awards. Quite good, actually."
Cassidy’s mouth opened and closed like a fish. The seconds ticked by. Five. Six. Seven.
"I..." She looked around desperately. "Um... Christmas with the Kranks?"
Vivienne winced. "That movie was terrible."
"But it counts!"
"Unfortunately, yes."
Sabrina didn’t even blink. "The Night Before Christmas. The 1974 animated version."
"Dammit," Cassidy muttered.
Vivienne’s turn. "Carol."
"Which Carol?" Sabrina asked.
"The 2015 adaptation with Cate Blanchett and Rooney Mara."
"That’s not a Christmas movie, that’s just set in December!"
"Christmas is a central plot elent. The departnt store Christmas display, the Christmas party, the holiday season atmosphere driving the narrative tension."
Iris fact-checked again. "Confird. Carol is considered a Christmas movie by most film databases."
Cassidy threw her hands up. "This is ridiculous! You’re all using weird artsy movies nobody’s ever heard of!"
"Just because you haven’t heard of them doesn’t an they don’t count," Sabrina said mildly.
The pressure was getting to Cassidy. She was out of mainstream options and clearly didn’t have the deep-cut knowledge her sisters possessed. The ten-second tir was her enemy now.
"Um..." She looked around frantically. "The... uh... Mixed Nuts!"
"Steve Martin movie from 1994," Vivienne confird. "Takes place on Christmas Eve. Acceptable."
Back to Sabrina, who was starting to look like she was enjoying herself. "Brazil."
"BRAZIL?" Cassidy screeched. "How is BRAZIL a Christmas movie?"
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