‘The Best Christmas Pageant Ever’ Ending Explained & Movie Recap

With Christmas around the corner, it just feels nice to watch heartfelt movies around the holiday season that will uplift your mood. There are movies that discuss stories of people who help others stuck in a bad situation and aid them in becoming a better version of themselves. This is how the spirit of Christmas should be cherished. The Best Christmas Pageant Ever is one such film that talks about how every child deserves to be given a chance no matter what his/her background is. 

Spoilers Ahead

Who were the Herdmans?

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever began with the voiceover of adult Beth, who recollects having lived around the Herdman siblings in the fictional town of Emmanuel. The Herdmans were a group of six siblings: Ralph, Leroy, Claude, Ollie, Gladys, and Imogene. Imogene was the oldest and she was the group leader. They were a bunch of bullies and trouble makers, and the whole town was afraid of them, including the adults. The siblings lived in a dilapidated home, with their parents nowhere to be seen.  

Why was Beth angry at Imogene?

One day at school, Imogene took away Beth’s necklace and refused to give it back. Beth had to give it even though it was a gift from her mother. Alice, Beth’s classmate, was the only kid from Beth’s class who stood up to Imogene from time to time. She was the daughter of Rebecca, one of the steadfast mothers who was active in several committees related to the upkeep of the town. 

Did Grace agree to direct the pageant?

Every year, the town of Emmanuel conducts a pageant on Christmas Day in the local church. The pageant is nothing, but the Nativity play organized by the townspeople with the children as the cast narrating the story of the birth of Jesus Christ, surrounded by three wise men and the angel. The pageant for the past few years had been directed by Helen Armstrong, a regular churchgoer and Grace’s neighbor. She unfortunately broke her legs and thus someone else had to step up and direct the pageant. Grace, a homemaker, volunteered to direct the play, which Rebecca and Helen were unsure of. Grace wanted to prove them wrong and decided to put on a show that would be remembered for years to come. 

Why did Ollie and his siblings show up at the church?

Beth had a younger brother, Alec, who had been bullied by Leroy for a while, as the Herdman boy used to steal his dessert every day. An angry Alec told Leroy about the church where they used to get free sweet treats every week. Since the Herdmans were not a part of the congregation and never used to attend the church, Alec assumed the siblings wouldn’t be allowed on the premises and wouldn’t get the food. The Herdmans arrived at the church, and the pastor and his wife could not ask them to leave. As everyone knew, the children had no parents, and hence the pastor had to invite the Herdmans into the church. 

Why were the Herdman siblings interested in the play?

The Herdman siblings arrived on the day the casting of the play was being decided. The crew was more or less decided, and the meeting was just a formality. The parents and the children did not expect the Herdmans to show up and take over the casting decisions. Since the rest of the children were afraid to speak up, Imogene walked away, demanding she should be Mother Mary. She got the part without any competition; that upset Rebecca, Alice’s mother. Alice had always been Mary, but they could not openly speak up against it. Imogene’s brother would be Joseph, Jesus’ father; Gladys would be the angel informing Joseph about Jesus the Son of God. Grace was helpless as the Herdman children demanded she let them be a part of the play. Many parents in the meeting were not happy with this decision, especially Helen and Rebecca. 

Grace learned that the Herdman children did not know about Jesus and the story of his birth. The siblings began to do their research on the subject thanks to Grace’s insistence. Imogene tried to be friends with Beth and asked for access to the school library to study more on Jesus, his mother, and his father. As Imogene was Mary, she delved deep into the subject to understand her character, stunning Beth, the librarian, and other staff at the school. Imogene asked her siblings to treat the play as a film where they would have to be someone else for a while, which would be a good escape from their troubled personal lives.

Did Grace decide to retain the cast?

A few days before Christmas, Grace and her husband took the kids for a charity activity that was being carried out by the church every year. One of the errands was to deliver a large piece of ham to the Herdman residence. The Herdman siblings were elated to see Beth’s father, and it was easy to deduce that he visited them every year to deliver the ham as a part of the Christmas celebration. It was the first time Beth realized the Herdman children were orphans, as their parents weren’t around. It was assumed their parents died, and Imogene was left to take care of her siblings from here on.  Grace, who was being admonished for casting Imogene and Ralph to play the lead roles in the play. After the charity drive that morning, Grace decided to stick to her cast and stand by them till the end of the show. 

What caused the fire at the church?

During one of the rehearsals at the church, there was a huge argument among Imogene and the other kids, which Grace had to involve herself in. Imogene was fighting over the naming of the child, and she wanted a real baby to hold. Since the day Grace had decided to retain the Herdman siblings in the play, many families had backed away from giving their kids the role of infant Jesus. An angry Imogene went to the washroom during a break. One of the mothers from the congregation saw a fire in the church and blamed it on Imogene, as it was widely believed she smoked cigarettes. Several mothers, including Rebecca, used this opportunity to try to remove the Herdman siblings from the play. Thankfully the pastor and Grace were not willing to believe Imogene had caused the fire without any proof. The firefighters revealed that the fire was caused by a cake in the oven, and not cigarettes from the washroom. 

Why was Beth convincing Imogene?

Grace and the pastor were relieved, but the children simply disappeared right after they were accused of arson. Grace got worried and upset as she began to think her play at the pageant was going to be a bust. Since the children had not returned any of her calls, she realized the play would be a failure as there was no time to replace the cast. On the day of Christmas, Grace and Beth had a conversation about the subject; the latter realized this win was crucial for her mother. Beth was a witness to the amount of effort her mother put into making this play a success at the pageant. She went against the mothers at the committee and Helen herself so that her cast wouldn’t be harassed by them. Beth realized if the play was a success, the Herdman siblings would also be given some credit for being dedicated to an activity and finishing it without creating any nuisance. 

Beth visited Imogene and conveyed to her why she should come and perform her part in the play. Imogene’s one move would be enough, and her siblings would follow her footsteps. She also tried to convince her classmate that she needed to do it for Grace, who stood up for the children despite opposition from the town, including from Beth herself. Imogene was made to believe that Grace believed her and her siblings, which was why she chose to give them a chance. Grace was a new director, and she wanted to bring about some changes around the town by giving chances to those who were always asked to take the backseat. Beth wanted Imogene to reciprocate what Grace had done for them. The conversation between the children of the same age was refreshing, and for a change, Imogene did not try to bully Beth. Imogene, however, claimed she would not be interested as the town would never accept them. This was true as the kids were deemed runts, and nobody stepped forward to help them do better.  

Did the Herdmans show up for the pageant?

At the pageant, as Grace expected, the Herdman siblings did not show up. She did not panic, as she’d decided to change the cast of the play, and chose Alice to play the part of Mary, to Rebecca’s delight. Grace was not angry at this point; she was only empathizing with the Herdman children as they had been treated harshly and hence she could not blame them for not showing up. Even though the rest of the congregation expected the Herdman siblings to not show up, Grace at some point thought this play could be a way for them to start being seen as normal kids who just want to be treated like everyone else of their age. To everyone’s shock, as the play was about to begin, Alice joined Beth in the choir and saw Imogene and Ralph in their costumes making an entry to the stage as Mary and Joseph. 

Grace was happy to find the Herdman children in the play, and she was confident at that point that it would be different from the usual charade that used to take place until last year. This time, since Grace was a new person handling direction, she wanted new people as well, and as a result, she could bring out the different versions of Mary and Joseph. As the play went on, Ralph, Imogene, and Gladys added their own flair to the play that impressed the congregation, including the pastor of the church. This is when everyone slowly realized that the Herdman children were talented, and bringing about some change in the play would not be as bad as they thought it would be. This is why change is important, as it lets people see things in a different perspective. Thanks to Grace and her persistence, the Herdman children were finally given something of significance, and they would be remembered for this play more than their nuisance. 

The play was a huge success, especially by the end. Imogene, as Mary, genuinely had tears in her eyes, something that Alice noticed and let Beth know about. Both of them were moved by Imogene’s performance, as it transported them to the era when Jesus was born. This was a divine moment since all of them, including the children, could feel this play was extraordinary. Since it was Christmas, they’d just witnessed a miracle. After the play, Imogene let Beth know she was the reason why she came back for the play. Imogene finally realized Beth was not as bad as she had thought. Their conversation indicated that they could become close friends from that point on. It was Grace’s humility and generosity that were rubbing off on her daughter Beth. Imogene also returned the necklace she took from Beth, which could be her way of apologizing to her. 

The Best Christmas Pageant Ever ended with adult Beth sitting in front of the children and narrating the tale of the Herdman siblings, who went from unbearable scamps to gems of the community. They were finally given a chance to be someone else, and it worked thanks to Beth’s mother, Grace. Adult Beth was proud of what her mother had done, and this had become one of those stories that needed to be shared with children of every generation after them. The pageant had genuinely become the best ever, and nothing had topped it after that. The end credits of the movie had the makers letting the audience know that the Herdman siblings found themselves in a good position in life, except Leroy, who had been to prison several times. It was nice of the makers to only show the faces of the young Herdman siblings, as it leaves the audience with some kind of mystery about what they could be looking like decades after the play immortalized them. The end credits could also indicate that the play allowed the children to seek their passion instead of relying on bullying and creating a nuisance. Grace, in a way, provided a guiding light to the Herdman siblings by taking them out of their misery just like Jesus Christ did for the poor and the destitute. He gave his people something to believe in and take his words and work forward. It could be believed that the Herdman siblings did that too.