Chicho Koleda

Going into this movie I didn't expect much, as Bulgarian cinema is notorious for poorly implementing otherwise good ideas. However, this beautiful Christmas story with a taste of 2003s "Love actually" actually managed to surprise me and overdelivered.

The plot is very straightforward at the start, following a couple of seemingly unrelated storylines. However, the movie really picks up after that and the writing really shines, with the multitude of characters and all the complex relationships between them. It really manages to escape all Christmas movie cliches and the plethora of amazing modern Bulgarian actors are all doing a great job portraying their characters.

Many Bulgarian movies feel fake and cringeworthy, but this one really felt special and genuine and made me shed a few tears and feel so happy and satisfied. It really hits top marks not only for Bulgarian audience, but I feel it could be international hit in the right conditions.