‘Christmas Ransom’ Ending, Explained: Did Terri Pay The Ransom To Save Her Brother?

The Stan Original film, “Christmas Ransom,” produced by Every Cloud Production, premiered on December 1, 2022. With the lead cast, Mike Okine (Derrick), Miranda Tapsell (Gladys), Ed Oxenbould (Pete), Vivienne Awosoga (Terri), Bridie McKim (Shez), Genevieve Lemon (Nan), Tahlia Sturzaker (Brady), Evan Stanhope (Wombat), etc., the movie exhibits a fine blend of adventure and comedy, thus, making for a delightful family watch.

Spoilers Ahead


‘Christmas Ransom’ Plot Synopsis: What Happens In The Movie?

The lovely store Harrington & Sons, owned by Derrick, gets seized by a pair of wrongdoers on Christmas Eve. The criminals hold the owner, Derrick, and one of the workers, Pete, at gunpoint and demand a ransom from Derrick’s sister, Terri, who is the proprietor of a famous video game company. Surprisingly, the two hostages and two criminals were not alone at the store! The security guard Gladys and two naughty kids, Brady & Wombat, were present for a reason, and that’s when they were forced to team up with the pregnant security guard on a mission to overpower their evil plan and save the Christmas Evening. Well, the movie indeed takes a significant turn at the end, leaving us all in shock and surprise.


The Hostage Situation

The film opens up with a cozy scene where we see a young Derrick with his sister Terri and father Clarence Harrington at their famous toy store, having the time of their life. Their father appears to be a very humble man who runs the toy store with all his heart and the utmost passion. He loved spending time among children as, after the death of his wife, the kids playing at the toy store made him feel comfortable and at home. Even though he didn’t sell many toys in the store, the children’s presence made him feel happy. Furthermore, perhaps deep down, Clarence didn’t want his kids to grow up all alone, feeling they were missing out on something in their life, so he made sure the toy store was perpetually filled with kids, which might somehow fill in the gaps of his and the kid’s life. This could be one of the reasons he used to put so much effort into keeping the kids at the store amused and pleased. Every year, for Christmas Eve, he had set up a tradition wherein all the letters the kids wrote to Santa were put into the giant blow-up kangaroo pouch, which was set on the roof of the shop. After Mr. Clarence Harrington passes away, the store is managed by his son, Derrick. But he doesn’t seem that indulgent or happy with the store, and even the store’s pregnant security guard can observe that something is missing from his life. 

One day, while Derrick comes to deposit letters in the hot, blown-up Kangaroo Pouch, the tradition he has kept alive even after his father’s death, he and the security lady, who is also Derrick’s friend, can be seen chit-chatting on the roof. He convinces Gladys to tell the father of her child that she is pregnant, and while he deposits the letters in the pouch, he can be seen hiding a letter with a big stamp of “Final Notice” on it. Well, yes, you all guessed it right—the store is about to get shuttered because of significantly impacted finances, and this is exactly what is keeping him awake. Derrick, at this moment, feels it’s all his fault and that he couldn’t run the store as smartly as his father did. So, on his last night at the store, he decides to close it by himself, and that’s when two criminals, Nan and Shez, enter the store forcefully and hold him and one of his workers, Pete, at gunpoint. The criminals entered the store, assuming nobody was around apart from these two men, but little did they know that the two naughty kids and the security guard were also present at the store. Gladys had held these two naughty kids to teach them a lesson, as they had been stealing things from the store for a long time.

The wrongdoer’s main motive was to seize a hefty amount of cash, but somehow they already knew Derrick didn’t have it; however, his famous sister, Terri, the owner of a well-known video game company, would, of course, pay them! So, the criminals call Terri from Derrick’s cell phone and ask her for $30,000 if she wants her brother to be safe. Since Derrick’s father passed away, the siblings, Derrick and Terri, have had minimal contact. Terri indeed loved her father and brother, but she was sad to acknowledge that the store was named “Harrington & Sons,” and there was no mention of her. So, grasping the same, after their father’s demise, even though she wanted to assist the store with his brother, she chose a different path, assuming she didn’t belong there.


Criminals Approach Derrick’s Sister, Terri, For The Ransom

After Nan and Shez spoke with Derrick’s sister, they were unhappy as her response to the situation was quite surprising. She sounded not at all interested but, of course, a bit tense about herself. After the criminals call her again, she agrees to pay them the ransom in exchange for her brother’s safety. With all of this going on at the store’s lower and upper levels, the kids and Gladys were completely oblivious to the situation. While Gladys explains to the kids that stealing is wrong, she observes via the CCTV that someone has taken control of the place. She then leaves the room to save Derrick and Pete and advises the kids not to leave the room, but, of course, kids being the naughtiest creatures, pay no heed to her suggestions.

With Gladys and the kids leaving the room, the criminals get to know someone is present among them, and that’s when the drama begins! Nan and Shez run behind the kids and the guard while the kids and the pregnant guard hunt for a place to hide; the kids show her a secret room, away from the eyes of both criminals and cameras. Gladys seems quite shocked after discovering the site as it appeared to be someone’s home with beds and a dining area. The kids then tell her that they are siblings of one of the hostages, Pete and that they live in the store as they have nowhere else to go. This segment of the movie melts everyone’s heart with its loving approach. The kids, Brady and Wombat, explain to Gladys that they lost their mother when they were younger and that they are searching for their father, and that as soon as they find him, they’ll leave the place.

Gladys is tough on the outside and soft on the inside. This scene makes her realize how significant it is for a child to have a father by their side. While all this is happening, Gladys’s boyfriend comes to meet her, but he learns she’s not at the store. As he exits with one of his friends, Gladys throws a giant Santa statue out of the window, signaling him to save them all. He then calls the police, bringing the kids’ and Gladys’ plan a step closer to dismissing the villain’s goal! The humor is brilliantly intertwined with the plot, making this an excellent flick for a family outing since no one has to worry about anything morbid occurring at the conclusion. Even the villains with guns are lame and provide decent comic relief.


‘Christmas Ransom’ Ending Explained – Did Terri Pay The Ransom To Save Her Brother? 

In the end, Nan and Shez catch up to Gladys and the kids, and Derrick’s sister Terri enters the store with a bag full of cash. Derrick becomes quite emotional after seeing his sister after many years. However, he is forced to reveal the truth after he witnesses Nan being cruel to pregnant Gladys while she is in a lot of pain. But what is the truth? Well, well, this hostage situation was all planned by Derrick so he could get the money from his rich sister. Derrick desperately wants to save his father’s legacy and is left with no choice but to join forces with the criminals, and he has agreed to split the money between himself and the criminals. But it’s well said that wrongdoers don’t care about anyone! Nan then tells Derrick that the deal is over and she will keep all the money! However, her partner Shez had enough of her shenanigans and decided to side with Derrick, Pete, Terri, and the kids.

With everyone running behind each other, Nan somehow escapes with the bag of money from the giant hot-blown-up Kangaroo on the roof, leaving everyone equally shocked and disappointed. Derrick blames himself for whatever happened; he has now lost every hope to save the store and can’t even ask his sister for help! But well, Shez reveals that she had exchanged the bag full of money with fake bills and that Derrick still can repay her sister. Derrick was relieved to hear this and promptly returned the money he had planned to steal from his sister. However, Terri refuses to accept it as she knows her brother had planned all of this to save the store their father adored, and she tells Derrick to save the store. She even offers to run the store together, with him taking care of the toy section and her setting up her video game station within the store itself to attract more customers.

The film depicts a complicated relationship between a brother and sister, which obviously gets settled towards the end. This complication occurred with a misunderstanding that held them apart for years, presuming they hated each other, which led to not speaking to each other for years after their father’s death. Why? Because of Terri’s wrong assumption that their father named the store “Harrington & Sons” because he always wanted Derrick to run it! But, in fact, their father always knew that Terri would make him proud by creating something of her own and that, from a young age, she didn’t really seem connected to the store. At last, when Terri learns this truth about her father, she feels sad about it, realizes how much she loves her brother and misses him all these years, and finally decides to run the store with her brother and bring in some new ideas. But in the end, there are happy faces all around, which makes this movie the best Christmas treat to savor with your family. 


“Christmas Ransom” is a 2022 comedy drama film directed by Adele Vuko.

Rishabh Shandilya
Rishabh Shandilya
Rishabh considers himself a superhero who is always at work trying to save the world from boredom. In his leisure time, he loves to watch more movies and play video games and tries to write about them to entertain his readers further. Rishabh likes to call himself a dedicated fan of Haruki Murakami, whose books are an escape from his real being.


 

 

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