Thanksgiving (2023 Film)

''Thanksgiving'' is a 2023 American slasher film directed by Eli Roth and written by Jeff Rendell, based on a story by the pair, who produced with Roger Birnbaum. Based on Roth's fictitious trailer of the same name from ''Grindhouse'' (2007), it is the fourth feature-length adaptation of a fictitious ''Grindhouse'' trailer after Robert Rodriguez's ''Machete'' (2010), Jason Eisener's '' Hobo with a Shotgun'' (2011), and '' Machete Kills'' (2013), a sequel to Rodriguez's film. The film stars Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, and Gina Gershon, and follows a small Massachusetts town that is terrorized by a killer in a John Carver mask around the Thanksgiving holiday one year after a Black Friday riot ended in tragedy.

''Thanksgiving'' received a theatrical release in the United States by TriStar Pictures through Sony Pictures Releasing on November 17, 2023. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $46 million worldwide.

A sequel is currently in development which is scheduled for a November 2025 release.

Plot

On Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts, a mob gathers outside local superstore RightMart in preparation for a Black Friday sale. Jessica Wright, whose father Thomas owns the store, lets her boyfriend Bobby and friends Gaby, Evan, Scuba, and Yulia inside early. The crowd notices them and stampedes into the store in a frenzy. In the ensuing chaos, Amanda Collins (wife of RightMart's manager Mitch), a security guard, and a customer are killed and Bobby gets his arm shattered. Bobby later moves away from Plymouth.

The following year, RightMart begins preparations for another Black Friday sale. When Bobby returns to Plymouth, a waitress named Lizzie is killed by a figure wearing a pilgrim hat and John Carver mask. Lizzie's was involved in the RightMart incident during which she was the cause of Amanda being killed, which lead police to believe those involved are being targeted.

The assailant, now fittingly called "John Carver", tags Jessica and her friends in grisly social media posts. Jessica lends camera footage from the RightMart incident to the town's sheriff, Eric Newlon. Carver kills several more residents involved in the riot, including security Manny, who abandoned his post during the Black Friday rush, a student named Lonnie, who lead the vicious rush to RightMart, and kidnapped a cheerleader named Amy then later kills her. Evan and Gaby are soon abducted while Yulia is attacked in her home. Jessica and Scuba make it there but are unable to stop Carver from disemboweling Yulia with a saw. The police attempt to lure Carver out by having the Wright family participate in the Thanksgiving parade. Carver in a different disguise decapitates a mascot and sets off smoke bombs, causing chaos in which he is able to abduct Jessica, her stepmother Kathleen, Thomas, and Scuba.

Kathleen is prepared and cooked alive at Carver's hideout. Her corpse is served as a "turkey" at a table where the hostages and victims' corpses are seated. Carver then bludgeons Evan to death in a livestream in front of the others. Jessica and Scuba escape from the table and Carver chases Jessica through the woods. She then comes upon Eric lying on the pavement and follows signs of movement into a building where parade float materials are being stored. She sees Bobby in the Carver costume but Eric joins her and tells her to go outside. Gunshots are heard but Bobby is not found.

The police inform Jessica that her friends and father are safe. In the sheriff's office, Jessica notices the same debris from the woods that stuck to her clothing is also stuck to the hem of Eric's pants, revealing that he is the killer. Jessica asks Eric why he engaged in his killing spree, and he reveals his motive for the murders: After Eric's wife left him, he met Amanda Collins and had an affair with her. Amanda became pregnant with his child, and she planned to divorce Mitch to be with him. Amanda was pregnant when she was killed during the RightMart incident. Eric then began targeting those he held responsible for the riot, as their negligence and violence caused Amanda's death. Eric had abducted Bobby and placed him in the Carver costume to frame him.

Jessica then reveals to a horrified Eric that she has live-streamed his confession, exposing him as the killer. Eric attacks her, but Bobby intervenes. An enraged Eric attacks again, intent on killing Jessica for ruining his plans and his life. Jessica loads a blunderbuss using her mother's bracelet and shoots down a balloon attached to a tank of gas, causing an explosion that engulfs the sheriff.

Jessica reunites with Gaby and Scuba while Bobby is taken to the hospital. Authorities are unable to find Eric's body and believe he was incinerated in the blast. Reunited with her boyfriend Ryan, Jessica has a nightmare in which she is attacked by a flaming Eric.

Cast

Additionally, Jordan Poole plays Jacob, Mika Amonsen plays Lonnie, Shailyn Griffin plays Amy, Amanda Barker plays Lizzie, Chris Sandiford plays Doug, and Lynne Griffin plays Grandma. Adam MacDonald provides the voice of John Carver.

Production

After director Eli Roth created the fake movie trailer, ''Thanksgiving'', for the film ''Grindhouse'' (2007), plans for a feature-length adaptation began. In 2010, Roth told ''CinemaBlend'' that he was writing the script with Jeff Rendell and that he hoped to complete it once he was done with press for '' The Last Exorcism'' (2010). By August 2012, Jon Watts and Christopher D. Ford were set to write the screenplay with Roth and Rendell after they finished writing the Roth-produced ''Clown'' (2014). In June 2016, Roth revealed on Reddit that the script still needed work in order for the film to live up to the trailer.

In January 2023, ''Deadline Hollywood'' reported that Spyglass Media Group was producing the film. Roth would depart from '' Borderlands'' (2024), passing additional photography off to Tim Miller, in order to direct the film. The following month, Patrick Dempsey and Addison Rae joined the cast. Also cast were Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, and Milo Manheim. In March 2023, Rick Hoffman, Gina Gershon, Tim Dillon, Gabriel Davenport, Tomaso Sanelli, and Jenna Warren joined the cast. Principal photography took place in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, from March 13 to May 5, 2023.

Release

In March 2023, TriStar Pictures acquired the rights to the film. ''Thanksgiving'' was released in the United States on November 17, 2023. The film was released in India as ''Bloody Thanksgiving''. It was released on digital platforms on December 19, 2023, followed by a Blu-ray and DVD release on January 30, 2024. The film began streaming on Netflix on February 17, 2024.

Reception

Box office

''Thanksgiving'' grossed $31.9 million in the United States and Canada, and $14.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $46.6 million.

In the United States and Canada, ''Thanksgiving'' was released alongside '' Next Goal Wins'', '' Trolls Band Together'', and '' The Hunger Games: The Ballad of Songbirds & Snakes'', and was projected to gross $12–15 million from 3,204 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $3.8 million on its first day, including $1 million from Thursday night previews. It went on to debut to $10.4 million, finishing fourth at the box office. The film made $7.2 million in its second weekend (a drop of 31%), finishing in fifth. It then made $2.6 million in its third weekend. The film was re-released in 511 theaters in the United States on the last weekend of January 2024.

Critical response

Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B−" on an A+ to F scale, while those polled by PostTrak gave it a 73% overall positive score.

Owen Gleiberman of ''Variety'' wrote "''Thanksgiving'' follows the rules of the slasher genre, but it's got a more charged and entertainingly hyperbolic atmosphere than these movies used to have". Frank Scheck ended his positive review saying, "There are times you can feel ''Thanksgiving'' straining too mightily for a cult status it's not likely to achieve. But it seems a safe bet the film will be trotted out like a turkey on cable channels and streaming services for many Thanksgivings to come". The ''San Francisco Chronicle''s G. Allen Johnson gave the film a score of one out of four and wrote, "''Thanksgiving'' could have been a great horror movie. Instead, it's one of those where if you've seen the trailer, you've seen the film".

Sequel

In November 2023, Roth announced on his Instagram page that a sequel, ''Thanksgiving 2'', had been greenlit for a 2025 release. Two months later, Nell Verlaque and Rick Hoffman said that they believed they would return for a sequel. In August 2024, Roth stated he and co-writer Jeff Rendell were "about to hand" the final script to the studio, and that Addison Rae was expected to return as her character Gaby.

Accolades

See also

*List of holiday horror films

References

External links

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2023 films
2023 comedy horror films
2020s American films
2020s English-language films
2020s high school films
2020s mystery horror films
2020s police films
2020s slasher films
2020s teen horror films
American comedy horror films
American films about revenge
American high school films
American mystery horror films
American police films
American slasher films
American splatter films
American teen horror films
Crowd collapses and crushes
English-language comedy horror films
English-language crime films
English-language mystery films
Features based on short films
Film spinoffs
Films about cannibalism
Films about police brutality
Films about social media
Films directed by Eli Roth
Films produced by Roger Birnbaum
Films scored by Brandon Roberts (composer)
Films set in 2022
Films set in 2023
Films set in Massachusetts
Films shot in Hamilton, Ontario
Films shot in Toronto
Films with screenplays by Eli Roth
Grindhouse (film)
Slasher comedy films
Spyglass Entertainment films
Thanksgiving horror films
TriStar Pictures films