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Thanksgiving (2023 film)

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Thanksgiving

Theatrical release poster
Directed by Eli Roth
Screenplay by Jeff Rendell
Story by
Eli Roth
Jeff Rendell
Based on
Thanksgiving
by Eli Roth
Jeff Rendell
Produced by
Eli Roth
Roger Birnbaum
Jeff Rendell
Starring
Patrick Dempsey
Addison Rae
Milo Manheim
Jalen Thomas Brooks
Nell Verlaque
Rick Hoffman
Gina Gershon
Cinematography Milan Chadima
Edited by
Michele Conroy
Michel Aller
Music by Brandon Roberts[1]
Production
companies
Spyglass Media Group
Dragonfly Entertainment
Electromagnetic Productions
Distributed by TriStar Pictures
(through Sony Pictures Releasing)
Release date
November 17, 2023
Running time 106 minutes[2]
Country United States
Language English
Budget $15 million[3]
Box office $29.1 million[4][5]
Thanksgiving is a 2023 American slasher film directed by Eli Roth, from a screenplay written by Jeff Rendell and a story by Roth and Rendell, who produced with Roger Birnbaum. Based on Roth's fictitious trailer of the same name from Grindhouse (2007), it is the third feature-length adaptation of a fictitious Grindhouse trailer after Robert Rodriguez's Machete (2010) and Jason Eisener's Hobo with a Shotgun (2011). The film stars Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, and Gina Gershon.

Thanksgiving was released in the United States by TriStar Pictures on November 17, 2023. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and has grossed $29 million.

Plot
In 2022 during Thanksgiving in Plymouth, Massachusetts, people are gathering outside the RightMart superstore in preparation for a Black Friday sale. Jessica Wright, whose father Thomas owns the store, lets her friends Evan, Gabby, Scuba, and Yulia and her boyfriend Bobby inside the store early through a side door. The crowd outside sees them and, in a frenzy, stampedes into the store, resulting in multiple people dying, including Amanda Collins, the wife of store manager Mitch. Bobby gets him arm broken when he tries to rescue someone and subsequently disappears from the group.

One year later, RightMart is preparing for another sale, despite the protests of Mitch and several other residents. Meanwhile, Jessica and her friends are tagged in a social media post of a Thanksgiving table with their names around it. Bobby, who has broken up with Jessica, returns to Plymouth to work for his uncle after being injured in the riot, much to the chagrin of Jessica's current boyfriend Ryan. A waitress named Lizzie is attacked and killed by a figure dressed in black clothing wearing a John Carver mask. The police discover that Lizzie was present at the Black Friday riot, which leads them to believe those involved in the massacre are being targeted by "John Carver".

Jessica aids the John Carver investigation by providing footage of the riot to the town sheriff, Eric Newlon. The Carver claims more victims, including RightMart security guard Manny and high school students Amy and Lonnie. Evan and Gabby are soon abducted by John Carver, while Jessica narrowly avoids being killed. Yulia's father decides to move their family to Florida, but he and the deputy guarding them are knocked out by John Carver, who attacks Yulia. Jessica and Scuba drive to Yulia's house, but are unable to stop Carver from disemboweling Yulia with a buzzsaw before he escapes.

The police attempt to lure Carver out by having the Wright family and Scuba participate in a Thanksgiving parade, disguised as Pilgrims. However, The Carver deduces their plan and decapitates a turkey mascot before sending smoke bombs into the crowd, causing everyone to scatter in panic and giving John Carver the opportunity to abduct the Wrights and Scuba in the chaos. John Carver then cooks Jessica's stepmother Kathleen alive in an oven before serving her as the "turkey" at a dinner table surrounded by his hostages and the corpses of his victims. John Carver then bludgeons Evan to death in a livestream before Jessica cuts through her bindings and escapes, luring him away from the others. She eludes Carver by climbing over a fence and running through the woods. Jessica makes it to a parade warehouse, and finds Newlon unconscious. When she follows a figure wearing the Carver's mask inside, she sees it is Bobby. She calls Newlon to help capture Bobby, but he escapes.

The police soon arrive and inform them that the survivors are safe. Once they leave Jessica and Newlon alone, Jessica notices the same bramble debris from the fence and the deep woods that stuck to her are also on Newlon’s clothing and sneakers, realizing he is John Carver. Newlon reveals that he was having an affair with Amanda, who was pregnant with his child when she died. This was his motive to become John Carver and seek revenge on those responsible. To Newlon's horror, its revealed that Jessica has livestreamed his confession, leading him to attack her until she is saved by Bobby.

The two attempt to escape in a tow truck belonging to Bobby's uncle, but Newlon hooks it to a support beam. As he approaches them with an axe, Jessica uses a musket to shoot a turkey parade balloon, causing an explosion that engulfs Newlon in flames.

The following morning, Bobby is taken away in an ambulance and Jessica reunites with Gabby, Ryan, Scuba and McCarty. The authorities are unable to find Newlon's remains, leading them to believe he was incinerated in the explosion. However, Jessica continues to have nightmares of a flaming Newlon attacking her from a bedroom closet.

Cast
Patrick Dempsey as Sheriff Eric Newlon
Nell Verlaque as Jessica
Addison Rae as Gabby
Jalen Thomas Brooks as Bobby
Milo Manheim as Ryan
Rick Hoffman as Thomas Wright
Gina Gershon as Amanda Collins
Tomaso Sanelli as Evan
Gabriel Davenport as Scuba
Jenna Warren as Yulia
Karen Cliche as Kathleen
Jeff Teravainen as Deputy Bret Labelle
Jordan Poole as Jacob
Joe Delfin as McCarty
Ty Olsson as Mitch Collins
Mika Amonsen as Lonnie
Shailyn Griffin as Amy
Tim Dillon as Manny
Amanda Barker as Lizzie
Chris Sandiford as Doug
Derek McGrath as Mayor Cantin
Lynne Griffin as Grandma
Additionally, Adam MacDonald provides the voice of The Carver.

Production
Development
After director Eli Roth created the fake movie trailer, Thanksgiving, for the film Grindhouse (2007), plans for a feature-length adaptation began.[6] 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).[7] 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).[8] In June 2016, Roth revealed on Reddit that the script still needed work in order for the film to live up to the trailer.[9] In February 2019, reports indicated that Roth was slated to direct an undisclosed horror film for Miramax the next month in Boston, Massachusetts. Bloody Disgusting speculated that the film could potentially be Thanksgiving but was unable to verify.[10]

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.[11]

Casting
In February 2023, Patrick Dempsey and Addison Rae were the first cast members announced for the film.[12][13] Also cast were Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, and Milo Manheim.[14][15] In March 2023, Rick Hoffman, Gina Gershon, Tim Dillon, Gabriel Davenport, Tomaso Sanelli, and Jenna Warren joined the cast.[16]

Filming
Principal photography took place in Toronto and Hamilton, Ontario, from March 13 to May 5, 2023.[17][18]

Release
Thanksgiving was released in the United States by TriStar Pictures on November 17, 2023.[19][20]

Reception
Box office
As of November 26, 2023, Thanksgiving has grossed $24.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $4.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $29.1 million.[4]

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.[21][3] 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.[22] The film made $7.2 million in its second weekend (a drop of 31%), finishing in fifth.[23]

Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, 82% of 116 critics' reviews are positive, with an average rating of 6.8/10. The website's consensus reads: "Combining belly-busting humor with delightfully over-the-top gore, Thanksgiving is a feast for grindhouse fans."[24] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 63 out of 100, based on 34 critics, indicating "generally favorable" reviews.[25] Audiences surveyed 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.[22]

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".[26] 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".[27] 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".[28]