Stream It Or Skip It: ‘The Naughty Nine’ on Disney+, in Which Precocious Kids Pull a Holiday Heist

Disney+ is preparing to delight kids of all ages this Christmas season with their new film, The Naughty Nine. When troublemaking tween Andy Steele (Winslow Fegley) lands on the naughty list, he plans to get back at Santa (Danny Glover) by organizing an ace team of nine specialists to sneak into the North Pole and reclaim their rightful presents. Will these kids learn their lesson in the process of an attempted heist or are they doomed to a life of never-ending naughtiness?

THE NAUGHTY NINE: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

The Gist: Andy Steele (Winslow Fegley) has had a heck of a year raising hell. He’s halfway through the fifth grade at McCallister Elementary and has just pulled one last scheme over on the teachers before Christmas break with the help of his best friend and neighbor, Dulce Gutierrez (Camila Rodriguez). But their buzz is quickly killed on Christmas morning when they wake up to find that Santa (Danny Glover) hasn’t given them the gifts on their list, while he did deliver something to Andy’s rule-abiding sister, Laurel (Madilyn Kellam).

Determined not to take this lying down, Andy hatches a plan to assemble an elite unit made up of some of the most formidable naughty listers around in order to reclaim the gifts that Santa denied them on Christmas morning. Andy and Dulce lead “master of disguise” Jon Anthony (Deric McCabe), “animal whisperer” Rose (Clara Stack), “adorable innocent” Albert (Ayden Elijah), and “getaway driver” Ha-Yoon (Imogen Cohen) along with nice listers Laurel and tech expert Lewis (Anthony Joo), and adult pilot Bruno (Derek Theler) to the North Pole. There, they’ll work to break into the gift vault in Santa’s Village right under the nose of the elves and big man in red.

What Movies Will It Remind You Of?: The Naughty Nine feels like an homage to many different holiday hits. I’m not sure whether or not McCallister Elementary was named after Home Alone‘s 8-year-old protagonist Kevin McCallister, but either way, The Naughty Nine‘s Andy definitely feels inspired by the 1990 Christmas classic’s precocious scheming lead.

Other holiday movies that came to mind whilst viewing included The Santa Clause 3: The Escape Clause (Alfred echoes Jack Frost’s line “I invited chill”) and Jim Carrey’s How the Grinch Stole Christmas (namely when Andy was forced to participate in a Christmas cheer-filled elf conga line that he was desperate to escape).

Performance Worth Watching: All of the kids were great in this movie, but Camila Rodriguez in particular stood out to make Dulce feel like the emotional core of The Naughty Nine. From the very beginning, Dulce stood by Andy’s side as his best friend and biggest believer, naughty or not, and Rodriguez did a wonderful job conveying that steadfast character while also showing depth and growth in her own emotional journey as a middle child feeling forgotten and left out amongst her two sets of twins for siblings. Also, she has some great aim with both her arm and a bow and arrow. Katniss Everdeen would be proud.

Memorable Dialogue: “I can’t help it if my natural swagger projects a sense of confidence.” Jon Anthony is fantastic, and I’m both impressed and intimidated by this adolescent’s incredible sense of self.

A Holiday Tradition: Every year, Santa’s elves throw an epic annual After Christmas Party that is packed with joyous and welcoming multilingual (we love the representation) elves to enjoy caroling, dancing, and delicious treats from around the world. It looked like a lot of fun, those elves sure know how to party!

Does the Title Make Any Sense?: Yes! Our main characters are the nine heisting hooligans who make up the titular “Naughty Nine.” The title itself is also representative of heist or Western titles like Ocean’s Eleven and The Magnificent Seven, which acts to highlight The Naughty Nine‘s playful tone that shines throughout the duration of the film.

Our Take: The Naughty Nine is a very good time. Bolstered by vibrant costumes and sets (especially upon entering the North Pole), a deep and talented cast, and a fast-paced story that keeps viewers engaged the whole time, there is a lot to like about this family film that has the capacity to become a future holiday classic for kiddos everywhere. With a cast this big you can’t help but worry that characters will get lost in the shuffle, but every role is distinct and thought-out enough for them to feel memorable and like they each get a moment to shine.

While I was initially scared that I wouldn’t be able to root for Andy at all due to his manipulative and borderline sociopathic tendencies towards troublemaking and deceiving the adults around him, even he got a satisfying and believable arc thanks to the multifaceted relationship he shared with his rule-following sister Laurel. I loved that the movie has a campy feel to it because that’s what holiday movies tend to be about, and everyone in The Naughty Nine definitely understood the assignment and embraced it (adults included). It also was very clever to combine the heist and Christmas film genre, and seeing those two seemingly very different things mapped onto one another made for some fun, fantastical shenanigans

I didn’t love that it ended with a clear Avengers-like set-up for a sequel film where the Naughty Nine are apparently joining forces with Santa, but honestly the whole thing was lighthearted and entertaining enough that it didn’t hurt the film overall, so I’d still honestly be intrigued to see that sequel!

Our Call: STREAM IT! The Naughty Nine is an entertaining film that is full of holiday fun for the whole family. Just keep an eye on your kiddos after watching to make sure they don’t start planning hell-raising heists of their own!