I love Christmas.
Hello?
Dr. Avison?
- Yes? - Oh, thank God, it's you.
I was hoping you could find it in your heart
to take a new patient tonight?
This is my private home.
How did you get this address?
Do you not take walk-ins?
No. It's Christmas Eve.
I know.
It's a difficult night for so many,
especially the lonely.
I just need someone to talk to.
I'm sorry, I can't.
Is that because it's Christmas Eve,
or because you have another patient?
Because I can assure you, whatever is going on with
this other guy, I've got it way worse.
Look, I-I'm trying to be patient with you...
No, I'm trying to be a patient with you, get it?
- Okay, good night. - Santa! Wait.
Oh, my God, it's you.
I missed you so much.
Nobody believes like they used to.
Oh, oh, good.
You're calling Nick to cancel, huh?
It's fine, he's a new patient.
No, you're an intruder.
I'm calling the police.
How did you know all that?
Okay, okay, okay, you got me.
I'm sorry, I-- I lied,
but there's a very good explanation, okay?
It's just the holidays.
They're so...
Wait, what is that?
What?
Something on your face.
What? Where?
No, it's on the other side. It's right here.
Oh, that's a nice holiday sweater.
I like those glasses, too.
Hello?
Dr. Avison?
Yes?
It's me, Nick Green.
We spoke on the phone earlier
about an emergency new patient appointment.
Yes, yes. Of course, of course.
I'm so glad you're here.
I just need a moment.
I'm wrapping up one last present.
Okay. Thank you so much for seeing me tonight.
You're a lifesaver.
To top it all off, I'm totally fucking broke.
I have nothing.
I have no friends.
I'm just so sad.
Yeah.
So sad all the time.
Well, Nick...
I'm really proud of you.
Thanks.
I can't believe you're still alive.
What?
I mean, were you not listening to yourself?
Dead mom, divorce, money issues,
about to spend your first Christmas Eve alone?
I've had patients kill themselves for much less.
I mean, I gotta be honest,
I don't know what to do with you, Nick.
I mean, I guess there's...
There's one thing we could try.
It's a little dangerous, though.
What?
Okay, Nick, scoot over.
Okay? It's okay. It's okay.
It's okay. All right.
Nick, are you a believer?
In what?
You have not once mentioned the big guy
in this entire conversation.
You mean like God?
No, the big guy.
Up north.
Way up north.
I can't believe I'm going to do this,
but I'm working on an experimental new therapy.
Very dangerous.
It's called Come to Santa.
- Um, I don't-- - It's just like Gremlins, okay?
Look, you're about my age, remember?
We saw Gremlins as young boys, right?
And remember when Phoebe Cates,
she gives that beautiful monologue,
her dad comes down the chimney
dressed as Santa Claus, and he dies.
And it messed us up.
Because we stopped believing in Santa way too young,
and we associate that trauma with him,
and with our dads.
That horrific trauma.
I'm telling you, you give me one night
and I can fix you, Nick.
- Oh... - But I do need to film it.
- Um... - I'm will waive your fee.
I'm going to pay you $1,000 for your time.
Look, man, this...
I'm pretty skeptical about all this.
Oh, oh, you're skeptical?
Oh, Santa. Santa.
He's skeptical. He's skeptical.
You wanna know why you're skeptical?
Because you don't believe anymore.
You don't believe in anything.
That's why we have to go all the way back,
all the way back to Santa.
Because if you can believe in him, Nick,
you can believe in anything.
Even that you can be happy again.
- Um... - Come on, what're you gonna do?
You're gonna go home, you're gonna slit
both of your wrists and bleed out in the bathtub?
That's lose-lose for both of us.
Let's do it.
How you doing in there, buddy?
Oh!
Sweetheart, look at you.
How do you feel?
Honestly, uh,
I always wanted Christmas jammies.
Yeah, me too.
My mom, she-- my mom worked all the time.
She didn't have any money.
We didn't have any money.
There was hardly any presents.
Yeah, that's what happens when dads leave their sons when
they're seven years old and they never come back.
I-I never told you when my dad left.
How do you know that?
You know, Nick,
This is not your fault.
- What? - It's not your fault.
- Yeah, I know... - It's not your fault, Nick.
- I know... - It's not your fault.
I never I thought it was.
A lot of other people had it way worse.
- No! - Jesus.
Sorry, I didn't mean to frighten you,
but that is a hard no, Nick.
Okay.
Trauma is relative, and this is your trauma.
Your daddy left you, baby.
He left you with nothing to believe in,
not even Santa, okay?
Okay?
Okay.
I know. Okay.
Well, congratulations, Nicholas.
You just passed step one.
Merry Christmas.
Is this absolutely necessary?
Yes, it's absolutely necessary.
Come on in and close the door.
And...
Come sit on Santa's lap.
What happens in Santa's workshop,
stays in Santa's workshop.
Come on.
- Come on, come on. - Okay.
There we go. All right, now,
tell Santa what you want for Christmas.
Um, I...
I want to be happy.
Nah, that doesn't work. That's not a thing.
Okay? I need something specific.
What do you want?
You mean a toy car or something?
No, Nick, I don't mean a toy car
because you're a grown man.
I can feel your fully descended testicles
on my leg right now.
Something specific.
What is at the root of your trauma?
I-I don't know.
I don't know what's at the root of my trauma.
Yes, you do, we've been talking about this all night.
Come on. It's your...
Your...
D.. da...
My dad?
Yes, Captain Obvious!
You want your dad to come back on Christmas morning,
and Santa can help
bring him to you, but you have to ask.
Listen, I appreciate what you're trying to do here,
but I honestly-- I don't think this is for me--
Oh, for the love of Frosty.
All right, get the camera. Come on.
I wasn't planning on doing this until much later in the process
but you forced my hand, you doubting Thomas.
You want proof Santa's real?
Come on. Come on.
You ready?
Yeah.
There it is.
Took this picture when I was ten years old.
In a room not unlike this one,
except it was much darker.
Had my Polaroid camera hidden under my pillow.
I heard the footsteps coming down the hall,
the creak of the door.
Saw the white beard peeking in.
He said, "Shhh,
don't tell anyone."
And then I snapped the picture!
I know, I know. It's a shock
when you see him in the flesh for the first time.
I mean, I myself, I can barely remember
anything from that night.
How do you know that wasn't just some guy
in a Santa suit that came into your room?
What are you talking about?
I mean, that could've been anyone.
I don't think so.
No.
He brought presents,
and there was the celery and the carrots.
Oh, and he left a note.
Yeah, the parents do all that.
No.
No, don't you project your daddy trauma onto me?
What're you, what are you trying to say here?
That it wasn't Santa that came into my room,
but just some random guy?
And the reason I can't remember it is because what?
Because he raped me?
- Oh... - That's, that's insane.
Where'd you get a crazy idea like that from?
Um. Look, man...
This has been super helpful, but here, I...
No, no, no, no, no, no--
- I just-- - Don't turn this around on me.
Uh-uh-uh-uh-uh-uh.
I think you got some things you gotta process.
This is your trauma, not mine.
We're working on you tonight.
I am fine.
I am fi-- I am fine!
Okay.
Dr. A?
♪ Deck the Halls with boughs of holly ♪
♪ Egg-a-egg-a-nog, a-nog-nog-nog ♪
You're just in time for caroling and egg-a-nog.
Here, here... - No, I-- look.
Um. Thank you. But, um,
I, I, I gotta go.
No, no, no. Why do you need to go?
We're almost done with the program.
Come on, have some nog. - No, no, maybe, um,
you mentioned earlier, a thousand dollars.
I was thinking maybe I could just take half.
Maybe...
Could, could we do that?
You want half of the money
because you've finished half of the program?
Yeah.
You feel good about that?
I-- I feel pretty good about it.
So if you went to the blood bank,
and you gave them half a bag of blood, you'd ask
for half the... that's not how it works.
You gotta give the full bag of blood, Nick.
Come on, I think you're just nervous.
Have some nog. Let's finish this thing.
I don't like nog...
Well, that's part of the problem.
You need to get in the Christmas spirit.
But I'm lactose-intolerant.
Well, this is soy nog, so it's okay.
- I just don't like to-- - Drink the nog, Nick!
Yes!
Okay. Down the hatch.
Come on.
And then like...
Yeah, absolutely, absolutely.
Yes!
Now all we have left
is the grand finale, Nick.
- Grand finale? - Yes.
Tomorrow morning when Santa comes down that chimney
right there and we get final proof that he's real.
When you finally come to Santa...
Tomorrow? No, man. I gotta get home.
What are you going to do at home, Nick?
What are you, gonna watch Looney Toons cartoons on a TV
in your sad trailer where you put a gun in your mouth
looking at pictures of your dead ex-wife?
I don't know what that is. Is that Gremlins?
No, that is Mel Gibson in Lethal Weapon.
Gremlins is when the guy falls down and breaks his neck.
- Come on, just stay-- - Look, man...
I don't want any more nog, man.
Look, I'm trying to be nice, okay?
But you clearly have issues with your dad, okay?
And I, I don't...
Stop saying my dad raped me.
That's not cool, especially on Christmas Eve.
- Come on... - I'm sorry, where's--
Where's my bag?
My bag?
- Your bag? - Yeah.
I don't know.
Where'd you leave it?
I left it...
I left it down...
Oh.
Wait, are you okay, Nick?
I'm fine...
Wait a minute.
Did you have too much egg nog?
Wha...
Oh, no.
Twas the night before Christmas
and all through the house,
not a creature was stirring.
Good night, sweetheart.
Nick.
Nick!
Nick.
Wake up. Wake up.
It's Christmas.
It's Christmas!
And Nick, he came.
Oh, he came,
and brought prezzies!
And the carrots and celery.
He ate it all. Nick, Nick.
I filmed it. I got proof.
Come and see. Come and see.
And the best part is,
I don't think anybody got raped.
Okay, sit. Sit, sit.
Come on. Sit.
Here. Look.
Look.
Oop!
Sneaky little bugger.
Okay.
Here we go.
Ooh, you're heavier.
You're little, but you're heavy.
Is this-- is that's Santa?
No, that's... that's-- that's somebody else.
- Oh... - Shh, shh, shh.
Wait, here's my favorite part. Look, look, look, look.
Oh, what's that?
Oh, it's your prezzie!
Nick, it's your present!
Come on, don't you wanna open your prezzie?
Come on.
Where am I?
Okay, all right.
Come on.
You need a little help.
A little help here. Here we go.
Ooh, it's a big one.
Oh, sounds like a good one, Nick.
It sounds like a good one. Come on!
Open it. Come on.
Where's my bag?
Y-- your bag?
Nick, who cares about your bag?
It's Christmas, and Santa came.
Come on! Okay.
Here we go, here we go.
Ooh!
Where is it?
It's really deep in there.
Okay. Okay.
Nick. Nick!
It's in there. It's in there.
My bag?
Yes, it's your bag.
Go get it.
- D... Dad? - Yes! Yes!
39 years ago, he left you.
And this whole time, he's been living two towns away.
And Santa brought him to you
on Christmas morning.
Nick, how do you feel?
Oh, jeez!
Wait. No, no, no, no, Nick, no!
No, don't leave, don't leave!
Nick! Wait!
You haven't forgiven him yet!
Nick?
It's okay.
You didn't need to run away.
I'm not going to hurt you.
Oh, somebody taking a tubby?
Where are you?
Seriously.
Oh.
Okay.
Shh.
Don't tell anyone.
Ooh, come on, Nick.
Nick?
What happened?
Oh, sweetheart.
You fell!
Huh.
Just like Gremlins.