The award-winning filmmaker reimagines A Christmas Carol through the story of a woman forced to confront the wounds that stole her joy.
What happens when A Christmas Carol meets The Grinch, with faith, forgiveness and emotional healing at the center?
That is the heart of filmmaker Jewell R. Powell’s newest feature film, A Christmas Journey, a holiday story that goes beyond Christmas trees, presents, and seasonal cheer. Powell uses the familiar framework of a beloved Christmas classic to explore something much deeper: what happens when old wounds quietly shape the person we become.
At the center of the story is Hannah, a young woman whose painful childhood experience connected to Christmas has left her bitter, emotionally guarded, and determined to keep the holiday at a distance.
Year after year, Christmas does not represent joy for Hannah. It represents hurt.
She has learned to protect herself by shutting out faith, hope, and anything that might force her to revisit the pain she has worked so hard to bury. Then comes the assignment she wants least: planning the office Christmas party.
And that is when Hannah goes full Grinch.
Her resentment boils over, and she sabotages the festivities. But what begins as a workplace Christmas disaster soon becomes something Hannah never expected. A series of powerful dreams carries her through her past, present, and future, forcing her to confront the childhood wounds she has avoided and the life she has built around them.
The film’s official materials describe Hannah’s journey as one that leads her toward “healing, forgiveness, and renewed faith in God.”
More Than a Christmas Movie
Powell does not see A Christmas Journey as simply another feel-good holiday film.
“This is not just a Christmas film. It is a healing experience wrapped in a Christmas story,” she says.
That distinction is important.
Underneath the lights, music and Christmas imagery is a story for anyone who has carried rejection, unforgiveness, disappointment or unresolved trauma longer than they ever intended.
Hannah’s journey asks a difficult question: How much of the life we are living today was built in response to something that happened years ago?
Rather than pretending pain never happened, the film challenges audiences to face it. Hannah must recognize that the walls that once protected her have also prevented her from experiencing love, connection, and faith.
The message is clear: your past may explain you, but it does not have to continue defining you.
That theme is also reflected in the film’s tagline: “Her past defined her. Until she took the journey.” The film’s church outreach materials position the project as both entertainment and a ministry experience designed to encourage conversations around restoration, forgiveness, and faith.
Jewell Powell’s Own Unexpected Journey
Powell understands something about taking an unexpected path.
Before stepping fully into filmmaking, she spent more than 30 years in federal acquisition, including serving as a Contracting Officer at U.S. Postal Service headquarters. Although retired from federal service, she remains active in the field as a contractor.
A licensed and ordained minister, Powell began making films in 2021, proving that purpose does not come with an expiration date.
“When I thought working for the government and ministering on the side was my purpose, God gave me more,” Powell has said. “Somebody needs to see that it is not too late.”
Her first feature film, Unfailing Love, a modern interpretation of the biblical story of Hosea, earned more than 15 film festival awards. Those honors include Best American Film at the 2026 Cannes Film Awards and the Audience Choice Award at the International Christian Film & Music Festival. Her filmmaking work centers on faith, redemption, transformation, and the power of God to change lives.
Now Powell is bringing that same mission to the Christmas season.
Taking A Christmas Journey on the Road
A Christmas Journey begins its theatrical tour on Saturday, November 7, 2026, at 3 p.m., with screenings planned in Hyattsville, Maryland; Newark, Delaware; Greenville and Charlotte, North Carolina; Orlando, Florida; Detroit, Michigan; Arlington, Virginia; and Mays Landing, New Jersey.
A Reading, Pennsylvania, screening is scheduled for Sunday, November 8 at 3 p.m..
Dallas, Los Angeles, Philadelphia, and Memphis are also being considered for additional screenings.
The film will continue through church and campus-hosted screenings during November and December, giving congregations, women’s ministries and community groups the opportunity to experience the movie together and continue the conversation afterward. Streaming begins November 27 and continues through December 31.
For Powell, that community experience is part of the purpose.
Because sometimes a Christmas movie can make you laugh.
Sometimes it can make you cry.
And sometimes, if you are willing to take the journey, it can make you finally confront the thing you have carried for far too long.
For tickets, screening information, or details on hosting A Christmas Journey, visit ImpactNationsEntertainment.com.
