OVERLAY REPORT

The plot of the 1989 French film *Dial Code Santa Claus* (original title: *3615 code Père Noël*) is set in motion through a series of interconnected events involving a high-tech child protagonist and a deranged vagrant. The specific actions that start the plot in motion are as follows: ### 1. The Minitel Interaction Thomas de Frémont, an nine-year-old child prodigy and gadget enthusiast, is determined to prove that Santa Claus is real. He uses his **Minitel** (a French pre-internet videotex terminal) to dial the code "3615 PERE NOEL" to chat with Santa. * **The Action:** Thomas’s messages are intercepted by a nameless, deranged vagrant sitting at a public terminal. * **The Detail:** During their digital conversation, the vagrant asks invasive questions. While Thomas is initially cautious, he inadvertently reveals that his mother, Julie, is the manager of the large **Printemps department store**. ### 2. The Mall Confrontation and Firing Following the digital breadcrumbs, the vagrant travels to the Printemps department store and manages to get hired as a seasonal mall Santa. * **The Action:** While working at the store, the man is confronted by a young girl who accuses him of being a "fake" Santa. In a fit of rage, he **slaps the child** in front of other shoppers. * **The Detail:** Julie (Thomas’s mother) witnesses this assault and fires him on the spot. This turns the man’s fixation on Thomas into a personal vendetta against Julie and her family. ### 3. The Delivery Van Hijacking Desperate for revenge and still dressed in his tattered Santa suit, the man remains at the store after being fired. * **The Action:** He overhears staff discussing a special delivery of Christmas presents being sent to the de Frémont residence (a massive, castle-like mansion). * **The Detail:** He sneaks into the back of the delivery van. Upon arriving at the secluded estate, he **murders the delivery driver** to ensure he can enter the grounds undetected. ### 4. The Infiltration and the Death of J.R. Thomas has rigged the entire mansion with a complex surveillance system and a remote-control wristband to record Santa’s arrival. * **The Action:** The vagrant enters the house through the chimney, fulfilling Thomas's expectation of how Santa arrives. Thomas, watching on his monitors, is initially ecstatic to see "Santa" in his home. * **The Catalyst:** The tone shifts from wonder to horror when the "Santa" encounters Thomas’s beloved dog, **J.R.**, and brutally kills the animal in front of the boy via the camera feed. This act of violence convinces Thomas that this "Santa" is actually an "ogre" (as his mother had jokingly warned him that Santa turns into an ogre if seen). This realization moves the plot into its main phase: a deadly game of cat-and-mouse where Thomas must use his toy weapons and booby traps to defend his diabetic, partially blind grandfather and himself.