A realistic Christmas romantic comedy is hard to find when all you see around you is a surplus of lovey-dovey Christmas films. It is the season to be jolly indeed, and all we need is a dose of love, gifts, lights, and family, but the real story is something that should not be sidelined as well. A Polish Netflix Original, “Delivery by Christmas,” is the tale of a parcel delivery employee who makes sure people get their gifts on or before Christmas. Is she able to keep up the promise? Released on December 6, 2022, the film is directed by Aleksandra Kulakowska and Maciej Prykowski, and it is all about doing the right thing for Christmas and bringing joy to people.
Spoilers Ahead
‘Delivery By Christmas’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Film?
Marysia works for a local parcel delivery company and is a single mother to Maks, a 6-year-old who hangs around with his mother whenever he can. It is just two days before Christmas, and Marysia’s company is busy with all the gifts that need to be delivered all around the city right before the holiday. People wait for gifts from their friends and loved ones, and the parcel company makes sure they stick to the promise they make to their customers right in the middle of the holiday season. Marysia has to deliver a parcel to an office building, where her son Maks joins her. Maks runs into Krzysiek, a man who works in the same building, and he helps him in the washroom. Maks joins Krzysiek in his office, and meanwhile, Marysia is looking all over for her son. She finally finds her son having a good time with Krzysiek at his workplace. Marysia, being a single mother, juggles between finishing work and spending some quality time with her only son. She loves her job, but her hectic schedule means a lot of times Maks has to join her on her route so that she gets to be with him. With the packages that she is delivering nonstop, she is expecting a gift she ordered for Maks.
Krzysiek, on the other hand, is having a hard time explaining to his grandfather why he needs his grandmother’s engagement ring. He refuses to part with it, and Krzysiek decides to go by his grandfather’s home to collect it. Krzysiek feels his grandfather isn’t listening to him and is deliberately acting up so that he doesn’t have to part with his wife’s ring. As Krzysiek and Maks are sitting at his workplace, Maks accidentally shreds all his work-related documents. Krzysiek realizes he cannot go to his grandfather’s place because of this mishap. Marysia agrees to collect the ring and deliver it to Krzysiek’s office the next day. Krzysiek is tense at this point, as he needs the ring before Christmas. He seems like a control freak who desperately needs things to go his way, even at the cost of disrupting other people’s schedules. As Marysia collects the ring from Krzysiek’s grandfather’s home, Maks is intrigued by the man’s collection of vintage ship models. Krzysiek’s grandfather initially acts rather rudely but ends up parting with the gift Krzysiek was begging for. Marysia takes the parcel to her office and lines it up for delivery the next day. At her office’s Christmas party, her boss tries to kiss her, and Marysia is visibly disgusted by his act. To teach her a lesson, her boss places the wrong addresses on the gifts Marysia is supposed to deliver on Christmas eve. Marysia is taken aback by her boss’s behavior. The move made by her boss implies that they might have a history. The next morning, on Christmas Eve, Marysia is out on her delivery route and hands over all the parcels, including Krzysiek’s item and her gift for Maks. People who receive the parcels are stunned to see what they have received. Some are happy, some are shocked, and some are disappointed. Krzysiek opens his parcel to see a flash drive fashioned as a dress-up doll. He realizes his gift has been misplaced. He gets to Marysia’s home to inform her of this mishap. Marysia is also informed by her office staff that all the gifts on her route had the wrong addresses on them, but since there are just a handful of parcels that need to be exchanged and returned to their original owners, she figures that won’t take much of her time. Marysia is initially confused about how a mishap like this would happen. She is sure, though, that it wasn’t her mistake that led to this blunder. Marysia gladly decides to spend her day returning and exchanging the gifts.
‘Delivery By Christmas’ Ending Explained – Does Marysia Deliver All The Gifts By The End Of The Day?
As Marysia begins to rectify the blunder, Krzysiek decides to join her on the journey. He is anxious and impatient at this point because he wants to get his hands on the ring. Krzysiek is being rude to Marysia as he cannot think of anything else at this point. Marysia initially takes his rude behavior in good humor, but he crosses the line when he judges her for being a single, independent woman. Krzysiek insists she fills her vehicle’s gas tank, but Marysia argues that she knows how her vehicle works and he need not lecture her on the same. Upon his nagging, Marysia stops at a gas station, where Krzysiek, by mistake, fills petrol instead of diesel into her vehicle, delaying their journey. Marysia humors him because indulging in an argument would mean delaying the work she has been assigned to do, which would also mean Krzysiek won’t get his ring back on time. As they begin their journey, the audience is given a peek into the lives of the people who received the wrong gifts and how the gifts changed their lives, temporarily for some and permanently for others.
A family of three; Mariola, Michal, and their son Mirek. They receive a parcel for Mirek, supposedly from a woman named Milena. Mirek’s mother, Mariola, is suspicious of what it would be and has a conversation with her husband about whether she should open the package. They open the package to see a heart-shaped ceramic souvenir with a sonogram of a fetus, which has “Hi Daddy” written on its back. Michal shows this to Mirek, and he is shocked to know how it happened. Milena turns out to be Mirek’s colleague at work. He asks Milena to join him and his family on Christmas eve to discuss how to move forward with this pregnancy. On Christmas Eve, Mirek panics, but he is pacified by his parents, who promise to help him with the baby if Milena wants to keep it. The doorbell rings and Mirek sees Marysia on his doorstep requesting that he return the parcel he received, and he gives him his actual gift. Mirek is relieved, but his parents wonder if they should let him stay at their home from now on. They ask Mirek to move out as they know he will figure his life out. Michal and Mariola have a wake-up call over the news of his son’s illegitimate child. They realize these are the thrills they live on, which isn’t right because they are growing old. This makes them decide to ask Mirek to move out so that they can have a life of their own.
Estera has been in a loveless marriage with Eryk for quite a few years. All Eryk talks about is wild animals and his plans to travel to African countries to explore nature and wildlife. All Estera wants from her husband is some physical intimacy, which they have lost in the last few years. Estera tries to seduce him by posing naked, but Eryk does not notice her body or her feelings. Her tailor, Ernest, receives a gift for Christmas from Ester, delivered by Marysia. On opening the gift, he sees that it is rather a lewd miniature. Ernest is taken aback, but he assumes Estera is probably into him. Eryk, on Christmas eve, notices Estera wearing a new dress. She gives credit to her tailor Ernest and informs her husband of a gift she sent him. Unfortunately, the seam of her dress tears off, and she heads to Ernest’s tailoring store to get it fixed. Ernest is surprised to see her, and she removes her dress, asking him to restitch the torn portion. Ernest takes this as a sign of consent, and he appears naked in front of her. Estera is initially confused and politely requests that he restitch the torn portion. Estera is attracted to his boldness and his desire to be with her and be physically intimate with her. She succumbs to his charms, and the couple ends up indulging in an affair. As Marysia is back to hand Ernest his actual gift, he thanks her for handing him the wrong gift, as a tiny misunderstanding led to him meeting the love of his life. Estera and Eryk decide to separate because she doesn’t love her husband anymore, and Eryk wants to travel without anyone stopping him. This Christmas gave her what she wanted, and she is thankful for the miracle that came in front of her in the form of a confused tailor who she had known for years. As Krzysiek gets his gift back from Ernest, he realizes his grandfather packed the lewd miniature instead of the ring.
Way before they head over to deliver Ernest’s actual gift, Krzysiek, out of impatience and desperation, starts driving Marysia’s delivery vehicle, just when he is stopped by a couple of policemen. They run the numbers and tell him the vehicle needs to be checked as per government rules. On the way to meet the last family, where Marysia delivers her son’s gift, she gets emotional on seeing the state of the children. She asks them to keep the misspent gift and the actual gift meant for them and their father. Marysia sadly is not able to get any gift for her son. She is also upset about the fact that Krzysiek won’t be able to propose to his girlfriend without the ring, and she offers him the ring she owned before. It is assumed Marysia was either engaged or married to someone or is a widow. She ended up taking really good care of her son, which became her priority.
Krzysiek is moved to see the amount of hard work Marysia puts in to give her and her son a decent life. He is happy to see how amazing Maks is turning out to be. Krzysiek, on Christmas day, gives Maks the gift he deserves, the model of an ancient ship. Krzysiek heads to meet his grandfather and announces that he broke up with his girlfriend. He meets Marysia again when they are detained again by the same cops. They both are ready to accept the charges, but they only want to let go of the fish, which is Mak’s pet. Krzysiek and Marysia let go of the fish in the local waterbody by the city, and Marysia ended up throwing her ring into the water as well. These acts were a sign that they were ready to move on from their current state of mind toward a better life. Krzysiek and Marysia’s minor acceptance of each other gives hope that they might end up being in a relationship. Sitting together and talking about their lives is surely a sign of the beginning of a blossoming relationship.
Final Thoughts
“Delivery by Christmas” might be one of the most draining Christmas films out there, but it’s also slightly realistic too. The film dealt with realistic subplots and packaged itself well as a Christmas miracle. But the screenplay did not make the realistic subplots interesting enough to make me root for any of them. The screenplay became a drag by the end of it. The story was interesting, though; Aleksandra Kulakowska, Maciej Prykowski, and Maria Pulawska put plenty of effort into putting forward stories of different kinds of families and how one wrong gift changed their lives for good. If only the screenplay was not disjointed and slow. The pacing of the film impacted the viewing experience. Even though the audience knew how the film would end, the slow pace of the film made sure the audience wanted this film to end quickly. Directors Aleksandra Kulakowska and Maciej Prykowski tried their level best to deliver an honest tale of Christmas miracles, but the movie fell short somewhere. “Delivery by Christmas” is a decent watch if you want to indulge in a slow-paced Christmas film.
“Delivery By Christmas” is now streaming on Netflix with subtitles.
