Common Sense Media Review
By Brian Costello
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Bah, humbug. An extended holiday music video with cursing.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
The Keys of Christmas
What's the Story?
Rudy Mancuso is not feeling the Christmas spirit in THE KEYS OF CHRISTMAS. This Christmas hate is only increased after his girlfriend breaks up with him when he refuses to attend her family's Christmas sweater party. He walks down a Manhattan thoroughfare, where he happens to come across a piano on the street corner, and plays a song with the title "Christmas is a Bitch." When this is finished, Mancuso breaks his phone and needs to get it fixed. He takes an Uber driven by DJ Khaled, who takes him not to the Apple Store, but instead to an alternate reality winter wonderland filled with the likes of Mariah Carey, Mike Tyson, Bebe Rexha, and other pop performers, all of whom seek to show Mancuso the true meaning of Christmas.
Is It Any Good?
Don't waste your time on this dreadful excuse for a holiday special. The Keys of Christmas is an extended music video that's low on plot, fails at comedy, and leaves the viewer wondering if internet celebrity Rudy Mancuso cares more about the meaning of Christmas or more about the tragedy of his smartphone breaking. DJ Khaled isn't completely awful as the Clarence to Mancuso's George Bailey, and Mariah Carey and her Christmas hit "All I Want for Christmas is You" surely adds a smidge of venerable respectability amongst all the standard pop fare.
Nonetheless, this appears to be a part of YouTube Red's ongoing project to prove inconclusively that many of the "internet famous" lack the talent and creativity to do anything remotely entertaining that's longer than the time it takes for a Snapchat picture to disappear. And if Mancuso and company are going to venture into storytelling, perhaps they should learn such tried-and-true concepts as "three acts" and "story arcs." Mastery of these would go far in avoiding slap-dash endings and even turning a very loose parody of It's a Wonderful Life into an incoherent, if AutoTuneful, mess.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Christmas specials like The Keys of Christmas . How have they changed over the years? How have they remained the same?
Why do you think YouTube and its channel YouTube Red are actively putting out entertainment product starring performers who are "internet famous?"
How does the story manage to work in performances by so many pop singers? Does it feel relevant to the story, or forced in for the sake of promoting holiday songs sung by these pop singers?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : December 19, 2016
- Cast : Rudy Mancuso , Mariah Carey , DJ Khaled
- Director : Dave Meyers
- Inclusion Information : Female Movie Actor(s) , Black Movie Actor(s) , Latino Movie Actor(s) , Middle Eastern/North African Movie Actor(s)
- Studio : YouTube
- Genre : Musical
- Topics : Holidays , Arts ( Music and Sing-Along )
- Run time : 47 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : October 1, 2025
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