Plot Summary
Dear Santa is a Christmas comedy film that follows a dyslexic sixth-grader, Liam Turner, who’s recently moved to town after the tragic death of his younger brother. Amidst his parents’ marital problems, he’s having trouble adjusting to school, where, together with his only friend Gibby, they are basically invisible.
In an attempt to have Santa grant him a wish that would help fix his life, Liam accidentally sends a letter to Satan instead of Santa ahead of Christmas. What’s more? Satan turns up in his room, pretending to be Santa Claus, granting him three wishes before he takes Liam’s soul to Hell.
What does Liam ask for in his three wishes?
Liam’s first wish is for his school crush, Emma, to give him a chance—a wish Satan tricks him into making. From then on, Emma begins to express an interest in Liam after breaking up with her boyfriend, Aidan, for being rude to others. Satan also gets Liam and Emma tickets to a Post Malone concert, and Liam successfully asks Emma if she would go with him.
Later, Satan helps Liam sneak away for the concert by posing as Gibby’s father, who’s supposedly taking Gibby for cancer treatment—a lie Liam made up about Gibby. The three eventually make it to the concert, where Satan puts a spell on Post Malone, leading to Liam performing with him along with Emma.
However, Gibby feels insecure about his protruding teeth and confesses this to Liam later. In response, Liam uses his second wish to have Satan fix Gibby’s teeth, helping Gibby feel good about himself.
Over time, as Liam’s parents notice his fixation on “Satan” and his insistence that he’s real, they argue more about Liam’s well-being and how his younger sibling’s death has affected the entire family. Even though Liam doesn’t want to make the third wish, to avoid his soul being sent to Hell, he wishes for his parents to rekindle their relationship.
What is Satan’s secret?
Eventually, we learn that the “Satan” helping Liam turn his life around in exchange for his soul is not the original Satan but a half-demon aspiring to become a proper demon. This is revealed when the original Satan calls the half-demon to rebuke him for his association with Liam and informs him that the contract he made with Liam is invalid because it doesn’t adhere to the rules for claiming a soul.
Why was Liam spared from going to Hell?
The half-demon learns that because he granted two of Liam’s unselfish wishes—fixing Gibby’s teeth to help Gibby feel good about himself and rekindling his parents’ love for each other—the contract is invalid. Only one of Liam’s wishes, asking Emma to give him a chance, was selfish, and even that wish was tricked out of him. For a contract to be binding, all three wishes need to be selfish. Since the half-demon is still in training to become an official demon, this mistake leads to his banishment from Hell.
What was Liam’s original wish? Did it come true?
After being banished from Hell, the half-demon visits Liam one last time to explain that he won’t be sent to Hell. He further informs Liam that his third wish, for his parents to rekindle their relationship, is invalid because his parents sorted out their relationship themselves. This means the half-demon still owes Liam one last wish. He finally reads Liam’s letter and grants the wish Liam had written in it.
The next day, on Christmas, Liam wakes up to find his younger brother, Spencer, alive and well. Having Spencer back was the only wish Liam had written in his letter to Santa. The family is restored to how they were before Spencer’s death, with his parents no longer remembering the reason for their move.
What happens to Liam at the end?
Liam’s family is complete again with Spencer’s return. Since his parents don’t remember anything that transpired, their relationship is strong and loving once more. Everything seems happy until Liam receives a call from Gibby.
Liam and Emma had a fallout after he pretended to be a nasty person, believing he’d be going to Hell anyway. Gibby helps him out by telling Emma about Liam’s deceased brother, knowing that Emma is sympathetic to such stories. The film ends with Liam panicking about how he’ll explain Spencer’s return to both Gibby and Emma.