Just before Covid-19, The Christmas Card follows the Wilsons, a sprawling Southern American oil family, on a morning when they have planned to take a picture for their annual Christmas card before one of the daughters, Katy, and her boyfriend, Olek, must go to the airport. Christmas card portraits, a distinctly suburban White American tradition, aim to represent the family as a stable unit, signifying that the year has passed without conflict. Olek, a photographer who immigrated from Poland, has not yet married into the family, and has been tasked with the obviously overwhelming assignment of capturing the idealized picture of the Wilsons. As the family photograph’s scheduled time approaches, various obstacles stand in the way, including the visceral news of their young relative’s passing from a mysteriously fatal virus. Though disturbed, the Wilsons continue to attempt the photo op, but when they finally gather, the picture becomes an insurmountable task for the family to endure. Lucy Kerr
