Thanksgiving (2023) Review!!

Synopsis – After a Black Friday riot ends in tragedy, a mysterious Thanksgiving-inspired killer terrorizes Plymouth, Massachusetts – the birthplace of the infamous holiday.

My Take – I’m not a fan of Eli Roth‘s works. With the exception of the decent fantasy comedy film The House with a Clock in Its Walls (2018), none of his splatter films, which includes the like of Cabin Fever (2002) and Hostel (2005), have resonated with me, mainly due to his approach of focusing more on sheer brutality and putrid gore instead of apt storytelling.

And though he has shown signs of potentiality in the erotic thriller Knock Knock (2015) and the Bruce Willis led Death Wish (2018) remake, they too in the end fizzled under their dull approach.

Yes, in my personal opinion, he knows what buttons to push, yet I have found none of his films fully effective, well that is until I saw his latest. An entertainingly gory and satirical slasher about a killer dressed as a pilgrim wreaking havoc in a small town that takes aim at the hypocrisy of the thanksgiving holiday and the dark side of American consumerism.

Based on one of the grotesque, tongue-in-cheek trailers of fake ’70s films that ran between the two feature-length halves of filmmakers Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez’s Grindhouse (2007), the film follows a typical slasher-film template, with a plethora of characters who could be the killer, a group of high school classmates facing peril, and a relatable motive for the antagonist.

Yet, co-writers Jeff Rendell and Eli Roth cleverly manage to subvert traditional horror tropes, injecting a layer of humor and social commentary into the familiar narrative. Add to that the top-notch kills, with a perfect blend of creativity, blood splatter, and gore, the film ends up becoming a winner all the way.

Sure, it doesn’t exactly reinvent the wheel, however, it leans into classic slasher sensibilities well enough to deliver a holiday horror film that actually feels legitimate and not forced. Hereby, birthing a new age potential iconic slasher series.

The story opens on Black Friday, at a local RightMart in Plymouth, Massachusetts, as it attempt to jump start the holiday buying season ends. Something which unfortunately ends up in a frenzy stampede resulting in multiple people dying. A year later, the tragedy hasn’t been forgotten. There are protests outside the store and someone is taking it a bit further.

They’ve donned a mask of Plymouth’s first governor, ironically named John Carver, and are taking revenge on those they hold responsible for the carnage. Particularly, Jessica (Nell Verlaque), the daughter of the store owner Thomas Wright (Rick Hoffman), and her friends who dodged the crowd and came in the employee entrance, Gabby (Addison Rae), Yulia (Jenna Warren), Scuba (Gabriel Davenport) and Evan (Tomaso Sanelli), who live-streamed the mêlée, and the video went viral.

And despite the town sheriff Eric Newlon (Patrick Dempsey) putting in valiant efforts to catch the killer, one local after the next becomes part of the ghastly place-setting at a dinner where the menu includes anyone else whose actions were caught on camera.

Though Thanksgiving is often celebrated as a time for family, gratitude, and reflection, here, director Roth challenges this idealized notion by exposing the hypocrisy that often underlies the holiday. He masterfully portrays the frenzy and violence that can emerge from the rampant consumerism associated with Black Friday sales.

The film’s opening scenes vividly depict the chaos and destruction that ensue as shoppers trample over each other in a desperate pursuit of discounted goods. This exaggerated portrayal serves as a stark reminder of the dark side of consumerism and its potential to turn people into mindless, aggressive creatures.

The film takes aim at the consumerism and materialism that have come to define the holiday. It also explores the dark side of American history, particularly the violence and bloodshed that took place during the colonization of the Americas.

As a slasher it also does a good job of getting across characters without overwhelming the film with relationship drama. It gives us enough to understand everyone’s place, but doesn’t slow things down. He also does a great job of keeping the killer’s identity hidden, as well as giving them a plausible motive when it gets revealed.

The potential killers being, the former manager Mitch (Ty Olsson) whose wife (Gina Gershon) was one of the victims. Or Jessica’s ex, Bobby (Jalen Thomas Brooks) who suffered an injury that ended a promising athletic career trying to rescue one of the victims. He vanished shortly after and, coincidentally, has just returned to town.

But whoever it is, the killer always seems to be one step ahead. His first two kills, an impressive but improbable death by dumpster and a decapitation, deliver more gore than any two other major studio horror films this year. The effects are practical and more than deliver the goods.

Performance wise, Patrick Dempsey makes for a likable town’s sheriff and Nell Verlaque an amiable final girl, who are well supported by Addison Rae, Jenna Warren, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Gabriel Davenport, Milo Manheim and Tomaso Sanelli. In other roles, Rick Hoffman, Karen Cliche, Jeff Teravainen, Ty Olsson, Tim Dillon, and Gina Gershon are effective. On the whole, ‘Thanksgiving’ is an entertainingly gory slasher that is funny and bloody in equal measure.