With ‘Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point,’ Director Tyler Taormina Reinvents Cinema’s Most Old-Fashioned Genre and Makes an Instant Holiday Classic

variety.com:

J. Kim Murphy Filmmaker Tyler Taormina quickly fell in love with IFC Films’ idea for how to market his merry-and-bright feature.

The indie distributor’s trailer for “Christmas Eve in Miller’s Point” plays as a full-on throwback to how holiday season comedies used to be advertised, complete with baby boomer doo-wop, a long list of grinning cast members and a warm narrator promising that, “It’s more than a holiday.

It’s a gift for the whole family.” But the nostalgic packaging came with an unforeseen side effect. “A lot of the people online are like, ‘Oh, I thought it was a horror movie.’ It was a very common reaction that was not at all thought of,” Taormina shares. “Earnest nostalgia is not able to be detected.

The irony is expected. It bummed me out.” No killer is mucking up the holiday in “Miller’s Point,” now playing in theaters after premiering in the Directors’ Fortnight section at Cannes.