The Merchants of Joy Review: A NYC Christmas

The Merchants of Joy shows the heart of a Christmas tradition in New York City. Its story of the cutthroat tree trade is unique and moving.

As far as filmmaking goes, it’s pretty standard barring a few unique stylistic touches. But where this documentary truly shines is in a unique story, told by authentic people, which gets to the heart of the longstanding holiday tradition of buying a Christmas tree.

The Amazon MGM Studios documentary is based on an exceptional article by Owen Long in New York Magazine titled “Secrets of the Christmas Tree Trade.” Director Celia Aniskovich expands Long’s reporting with 90 minutes of interview and on-the-ground footage of the turf wars, business strategies, and personal interactions that make selling Christmas trees more of a cutthroat competition than the experience one might have in a Hallmark movie. The film goes much deeper than rivalry, though. The families are straining after the best corners on which to set up their shops because they believe in something. They’re passionate about selling Christmas trees—as a craft and business, as a tradition, and as something that keeps the holiday’s magic alive. 

The Merchants of Joy paints a surprisingly heartfelt picture of the headstrong small business owners. For example, Heather Neville, the owner of NYC Tree Lady, shares her story of overcoming addiction and harnessing the traditionally male-dominated field to welcome in other marginalized people. Greg Walsh, of Greg’s Trees, and his son, “Little Greg,” share their story of the family business, as well as Greg’s battle with cancer. Because most of this documentary is filmed in verite style (or observational cinema), every conversation feels organic, unscripted, and genuine. Aniskovich and her crew are merely extras in the unfolding drama that takes place every year for the so-called “Five Families of Christmas.”

You’d expect a documentary about Christmas trees to be riddled with classic Christmas music, but there is a lack of strong scoring to accompany these songs. There are moments in the documentary where an original piece would have complemented the depth of its subjects’ storytelling. What is lacking in the score, however, is made up with clever visual effects that supplement the film’s intended aesthetics. The animations used to dramatize the movie are reminiscent of the North Pole in Elf as well as the classic Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer. This produces the feeling that The Merchants of Joy belongs in the corpus of yearly Christmas watches, that it continues a story long told in iconic films of decades past.

The Merchants of Joy is a standout film because it falls in line with the perennial drive behind documentary filmmaking: It’s a story that must be told. It’s gritty, it’s got heart, it showcases the complicated process of something many people aren’t aware of. Most of all, every person involved in telling this story cares about Christmas, and about keeping something meaningful alive for the people of New York City. It doesn’t feature anything truly groundbreaking as far as cinematography, writing, or editing, but instead lets the story go along unaided, much to its benefit.

The Merchants of Joy will be available to stream globally on Prime Video from December 1, 2025.