A stark, lyrical portrayal of a family at Christmas, orchestrated by the ebb and flow of clinging and abandonment. Happy Christmas is an interwoven seaside hymn to gift wrapped promises and unwanted presence.

It's Christmas Eve in West Cornwall and Maggie is hoping to gather her disparate family under one roof for the first time in several years. Her youngest child, Carl, reluctantly leaves his life in the city and journeys back to the seaside town he once called home, daunted by the prospect of revisiting a troubled past. Meanwhile, Carl's brother Andy, dressed as Father Christmas, sets off on foot to confront his ex-wife Hana, and deliver a bin-bag full of presents to his estranged children. Their sister, Penny, nervously awaits the arrival of her teenage daughter Sophie, whos being driven home from college by her dad, Pennys first love, Graham.

The streets are filled with carol singers and last-minute shoppers as Carl departs his train. A chance meeting with a stranger in the station café provides him with a possible alternative to the family reunion. Andy struggles to suppress his anger when he is denied entry to Hana's house and with it the opportunity to see his kids. Penny is feeling pressured by her partner David's proposal as Graham and Sophie make their way westward, attempting to repair their fractured relationship along the way. Against all of this, and as the town swells with festive fervour, Maggie comes to terms with a devastating discovery by embarking on a solitary pilgrimage across a desolate landscape to deliver some gifts of her own.