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This is a New York drama so laidback that it required a decade to arrive on the UK’s cinema screens. Initially unveiled in the US in 2015, it’s a micro-budget first feature from first-time director Charles Poekel, set almost entirely on a 24-hour pop-up Christmas tree stall. Poekel’s style remains decidedly genuinely independent and naturalistic to become slushy or sentimental about Christmas; in his view Christmas tree lights blink like police lights. But with its subtle approach, he pitches his film perfectly for a modest dose of festive warmth.

The Weary Seller Amid the Brooklyn Cold

Kentucker Audley stars as Noel (someone had in the film to comment on his name before I twigged). Noel returns for his fifth year peddling Christmas trees in Brooklyn, working outdoors in the freezing cold and sleeping in a barely warmer caravan stationed beside the trees. Several patrons inquire after the girl assisting him last year. But this year Noel is alone, heartbroken and on the night shift.

There’s an observational quality to many of the scenes, with customers asking pointless random questions. One woman requests the same Christmas tree as the Obamas (this is 2014). Noel looks numb with cold physically and emotionally; he’s weary and disillusioned, though Audley’s subtle performance makes it clear that he wasn’t always like this.

Quiet Encounters and Glimmers of Connection

In truth, not much happens. Noel rescues a woman, Lydia (Hannah Gross), who has collapsed drunk on a bench. She pops up again later in truly poignant scenes as Noel travels through New York, making tree deliveries – and these sequences could spark a little flicker of good cheer in the grinchiest of hearts. Poekel has not directed a feature since this, which is a shame – you can’t beat it for naturalness and ease, and it’s filmed on beautifully grainy 16mm film.

The film of understated charm and real mood, portraying the solitude and fleeting warmth of the holidays.

Christmas, Again opens in UK cinemas from 12 December.