Directed by Sriram Raghavan, Merry Christmas, unfortunately, could be said to be one of his less impressive works. Generally, Raghavan’s films keep you on the edge of your seat, and you can never predict what is going to happen next. But the plot of Merry Christmas is quite predictable from the very beginning, and though the film picks up pace in the second half, the way everything wraps up is quite underwhelming. So let’s find out what happens in the film and how Maria finds herself in that mess.
Spoiler Alert
What happened between Albert and Maria?
Albert had come back after 7 years, and whoever asked, he told them that he was in Dubai at that time. It was Christmas Eve, and he went out to take a stroll when he saw a woman sitting at a restaurant with her daughter. He went to use the washroom, and there was a guy there who requested that he tell the woman that he had some urgent work and he had to leave. Albert didn’t understand what was happening, and he went up to the woman and told her that the guy had left. Albert looked at the face of the woman, and he understood that she had been stood up. He followed her to the cinema hall and tried to make conversation. Albert asked Maria if he could walk her home, and she agreed. Albert reached her place, and she offered him a drink. Albert was smitten by the woman from the very beginning, though he didn’t make any moves because he didn’t want to make her uncomfortable.
Maria told Albert that her husband, Jerome, had an extramarital affair, and even at that point in Merry Christmas, he was out with some girl. Maria and Albert had a great time at home. They danced their hearts out and then went out to take a stroll and enjoy the Christmas vibe, and then they once again went to pick up Maria’s watch, which she said she had forgotten at the church. Once again, Albert came to her building, and they shared an intimate moment in the lift. Albert was shocked when he entered Maria’s house, as he saw a man sitting on the chair who had apparently committed suicide. He had a gun in his hand, and his sweater was soaked in blood. Maria was distraught, and she told Albert that Jerome, of late, was having a lot of mental health issues. Maria was paranoid, and she asked Albert to call the police. That’s when Albert revealed that he had been in prison for the past 7 years, as he had murdered his lover back in the day. He told Maria that he couldn’t be around when the police came and that he had to leave. Maria was frustrated, and in anger, she told Albert to leave her house immediately. Albert believed that he had made a near escape, but he had no clue what he was in for or what fate had in store for him.
What was Maria’s plan?
Maria, as it was evidently clear from the very beginning of Merry Christmas, had killed her husband. Jerome used to sexually abuse their daughter and he had been doing that for a long period of time and additionally he had grown suspicious of the fact that she was not his daughter. Maria tried talking to Jerome, and time and again, she told him that she was not having an affair with anyone, but the man was just not ready to accept anything. His insecurities and his suspicions grew to the point where Maria realized that if she didn’t kill him, he would ruin the life of her daughter. Maria intricately planned everything, and for an entire month, she went through the details in her mind. She created a replica of the room just one floor below her house. The plan was to intentionally bring a man downstairs, where there was no dead body, and then go out with him. Then, when they came back, she would bring them to the fake flat instead of the real one, where the body was kept. She did that so that, firstly, she would have a witness who could testify to the police that she was with him the entire time, so it was not possible for her to keep the body there by herself.
Maria thought that by doing that, she would get a strong alibi. When the plan with Albert didn’t work out, she brought another man named Ronnie to her home. She acted like she fainted in the church and asked the man to drop her home. But the problem was that even Albert was present there. He saw her, and he knew instantly that there was something suspicious about her. Maria hadn’t expected Albert to be there, but now he also came to help Ronnie, and both men came to drop her off at home. Albert saw that Maria repeated the exact same words she spoke to him and also told Ronnie that she had lost her watch. When Maria and Ronnie left for church, they dropped Albert back at his house. But Albert went back again to Maria’s house because he wanted to confront her and ask her what she was up to. Maria came back to her home with Ronnie, and she recreated the entire thing once again. Ronnie fell into the trap, and he called the police. Everything was going according to plan, but then Maria found out that Albert hadn’t left, and that’s when she once again became paranoid and asked him not to spoil her plans.
Were Albert and Maria able to prove their innocence?
After the police left, Albert told Maria that he had murdered his lover seven years ago, and even now, he felt guilty and couldn’t absolve himself of his sins. Albert told Maria that he could help her because he had been there in that position earlier, and he knew how the system worked. Albert helped Maria burn all the evidence, but a twist came when Ronnie took Albert’s name during the police investigation, and the latter was called by Paresh Kaamdar, the inspector in charge. Now, Maria didn’t know that Albert had been called there, and Albert had to make sure that his testimony matched that of Maria. Albert had a habit of making paper doves, and Maria knew about that because he had shown it to her the other night. So, he made a dove and left it on Paresh Kaamdar’s table so that when Maria came, she knew that he had been called.
During Merry Christmas‘ ending, Maria and Albert’s testimony matched, and the police were just about to believe that it was a case of suicide when Marie’s daughter did something that spoiled the perfect plan. Albert had given her a toy to play with, and when Paresh Kaamdar asked her who had given it to her, she took Albert’s name. Ronnie had intentionally kept his wallet beneath the sofa the other night as he wanted to find an excuse to come back to Maria’s place and hang out with her. Albert had found the wallet, and it was in his pocket when he came to the police station. Now that Ronnie had intentionally kept it there, Kaamdar thought that they could go and check the house once, and if they didn’t find it, then it would mean someone else came to the house and murdered Jerome. Albert realized that Maria would fall into trouble eventually, and that’s when he decided to take the blame on himself. He confessed that he killed Jerome because he was having an affair with Maria and, in a way, proposed to her, too. Maria wore the ring that Albert had in his pocket, the one that he had kept with himself for seven long years. The police arrested Albert, and Maria got a second chance to live the life she always wanted.
