Indie film puts a 'Karen' twist on a Charles Dickens classic

Dec. 21—Jon Binkowski and Lisa Enos Smith are a small, but mighty duo.

The pair of filmmakers have been working together for decades, yet it was their latest film, "A Christmas Karen," that posed quite a challenge.

Making a film comes with many ups and downs, but throw in a pandemic and it seems like a difficult task.

"We've been business partners for 25 years," Enos Smith says. "We know what we are getting into each time we take on a project. With this one, we really wanted to accomplish a film that would be fun for the whole family to sit and watch."

"A Christmas Karen," follows Karen, played by Michele Simms, who is an entitled middle-aged woman whose demanding nature has alienated her neighbors and family.

After a series of instances displaying her privilege and prejudice, Karen receives an "intervention" by some unconventional spirits. The film is currently streaming on demand on AppleTV, Prime Video, Vudu, Tubi and PlutoTV.

Binkowski co-directed the film and also wrote it.

"It's a reimagining of 'A Christmas Carol,' " Binkowski says. "This wasn't going to be our first project. We were interested in doing a high concept movie and we discovered that the idea was already happening with bigger studios."

The pair wanted to stay busy with work during the pandemic.

Then Binkowski had the idea for "A Christmas Karen."

"It's still very timely," he says. "There are those people that are entitled and we thought we would have some fun with it."

The film was shot in Florida over the course of 22 days.

This meant a lot of overnight shooting for the crew.

"Michele was the only cast member not from Florida," Binkowski says. "We didn't think Michele would be interested, but she asked us to audition online."

The pair say the point of the story is not to bring attention to those entitled people who are known as "Karens."

"It's a redemption story," Binkowski says. "We did our contemporary take on the classic via comedy. We ask the question, "What if the past is representative of everything she fears? And then we take to the future, who has the most ominous powers."

Enos Smith says the film is getting compared to the Apple TV+ film, "Spirited."

It's a comment she takes with a lot of pride.

"We're an indie film and are excited anytime there are more eyes on it," Enos Smith says. "Social media has been heating up for us and we're excited to be mentioned with such a big-budgeted film."

Stream online

"A Christmas Karen" is currently streaming on demand on AppleTV, Prime Video, Vudu, Tubi and PlutoTV.