With Christmas break approaching quickly, family-friendly movies are in high demand. Surprisingly, my family lucked out when we accidentally rented Paddington, a PG movie about a talking bear in search of a family. Paddington is a 2014 movie directed by Paul King, starring Ben Whishaw as the voice of the lovable and well-meaning bear. The movie is a wonderful adaptation of a children’s book written by Michael Bond in 1958 which stays true to Bond’s vision.

Now, my family wasn’t expecting much from this movie; after all, it was made for children and isn’t what we typically watch, but we were pleasantly surprised. From the trailer, Paddington appears to be a cliche movie for four-year-olds, but it ended up being unexpectedly well-made and heartwarming.

With amazing set designs and cinematography, charming characters, witty dialogue and an overall wacky aesthetic, Paddington captures the lighthearted and imaginative essence of childhood. Paddington is like the Grand Budapest Hotel for children in that the story feels like it takes place in an alternate zany world but not to the point where it feels too far removed from reality (basically a Wes Anderson movie).

Paddington is fun and quirky with an over-the-top villain (played by Nicole Kidman), great editing and refreshing comedy that appeals to all ages. Even with a pretty basic meaning about the importance of family and tolerance, Paddington deserves to be a Christmas classic.