Quartile rating: 6.5/10 · 1 rating
Eva, an ex-dancer, is now living in a wheelchair, unable to walk. When her friend Sophie gives her an old wooden antique advent calendar before Christmas, she realizes each window contains a surprise that triggers repercussions in real life: some of them good, but most of them bad... Now Eva will have to choose between getting rid of the calendar or walking again… even if it causes death around her.
The Advent Calendar is a competent French horror-thriller with a genuinely clever central conceit — a cursed advent calendar with escalating supernatural consequences tied to the Christmas countdown. The premise is fresh enough to stand out in the holiday horror subgenre, and the disability angle adds emotional stakes. Acting is solid, particularly Eugénie Derouand as Eva, grounding the fantastical premise. Cinematography is serviceable but unremarkable for the genre. The plot builds tension effectively through its episodic structure, though pacing can drag. The ending, however, feels rushed and somewhat unsatisfying, undercutting the moral weight the film had been building toward Eva's central dilemma.