This £50 budget Christmas advert will move you to tears

A Christmas-themed short film - which is being praised online for blowing every John Lewis ad “out of the water” - has gone viral on social media

Christmas adverts are again beginning to crop up and, every year, we see the same massive corporations coming up with extravagant and excessive productions trying to outdo not only themselves, but competitors as well.

Because nothing screams Christmas like spending thousands on an advert or about how great Elton John is, right?

Wrong. Kind of. Elton John is definitely great. However, filmmaker Phil Beastall has shared his own Christmas short film and it perfectly drives home the whole 'less is more' point of view.

With a budget of £50, this film is filled to the brim with heart and is a wonderfully human portrayal of a harsh reality of the holiday season that is true to a great many people.

Beastall shared the video on 18 November following the release of John Lewis’ 2018 advert.

He explained in a Facebook post that his short film, which is called 'Love is a Gift', was made in 2014.

Despite this, it still managed to hit the hearts of viewers.

“Off the back of the John Lewis Christmas advert, I wanted to share my very own Christmas film which I made back in 2014,” wrote Beastall.

It’s a short film about a man counting down the days to Christmas so he can continue his yearly tradition sparked by a tragic moment from the past.

Speaking to Bored Panda about the film, Phil said:

Ultimately I wanted people to take a moment to realise how lucky we are to be here and remind themselves that although life can be really tough, we’re not defined by our careers or materialism. Family comes first and it’s important we look after each other. So although it’s not a true story, it’s one I hope hits home.

His video really hit home and people all over were loving what they saw. Something that Beastall believes is an essential aspect of advertising.

"People seem to like my film because it's the story that shines through," says the filmmaker.

Overwhelmed by the response he received, he took to Facebook again to post a thank you video

More: Elton John stars in the new John Lewis Christmas advert and it is giving people a lot of feelings