Imagine asking for one gift every Christmas, but never getting it. In “What She Wants for Christmas,” ten year-old Abigail was tired of not receiving what she asked for from Santa and hatched a plan to kidnap him until she got what she wanted.

Abigail, played by Brianna Dufrene, asked Santa for a puppy five years in a row, but never got one so, she decides to hold Santa hostage to get what she wants.

What she doesn’t know is that the man she captured is really her estranged father Sebastian, played by Christian Keyes. Since he was tied up, he was unable to find a puppy himself so he enlists the help of his secretary Tinsley, played by Jackie Long.

Tinsley tried to find a puppy, but the only one he found, the owner wanted an extremely high price. When Tinsley returned to their house to tell Sebastian the news, Abigail found him and tied him up as well.

Abigail’s mother Marilyn, played by Denise Boutte, realizes that Abigail had her father tied up and gets furious that Sebastian broke into their house and is trying, after five years, to reconnect with Abigail, so she freed him.

Once he was released, he was determined to find a puppy for Abigail. He was unable to find one, but instead he found a letter in his pocket. It’s the letter Abigail wrote to Santa saying that all she really wanted for Christmas was her dad back.

Once he read the letter, he rushed back to Abigail’s house. She was ecstatic to see him and believed Santa sent him there.

This movie was amusing because Abigail is no more than 10 years old, but was able to develop an elaborate plan to hold a grown man hostage.

The characters all have their own strong personalities that blend well with each other.

Abigail is independent and deceiving, Abigail’s mother is distant and oblivious to what Abigail is doing, and Abigail’s father is caring and just wants his daughter to be happy.

The main criticism I have for “What She Wants for Christmas” is that the backstory of why her father wasn’t in Abigail’s life was confusing and wasn’t explained until the end of the movie.

I would recommend this to anyone wanting to watch a funny Christmas movie. It is unrated, probably because of the plot with the kidnapping, but there aren’t any inappropriate images or words so, I believe it is appropriate for kids eight and older.