Gina Gershon and Patrick Dempsey in ThanksgivingImage via TriStar Pictures
By
Billy Fellows
Published 19 minutes ago
Billy is a Senior Features Author for Collider. Having written over 300 articles in just over a year, Billy regularly covers the biggest TV shows and films releasing while also analysing some of the most underrated properties that may slip your attention.
Having studied for an MA in Screenwriting at UAL in 2023, Billy honed his writing skills and also developed his ability to critique the work of other creative minds.
Before that, Billy studied politics at the University of Nottingham, which helped him to bring nuanced and scholarly analysis to the frameworks within which filmmakers and writers have framed their thematic messages.
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Blood, brutal violence, and terrifying dinners. No, it's not your Thanksgiving dinner with the family you only see twice a year for good reason, but you're not far off. It's 2023's Thanksgiving, directed by Eli Roth, and it will certainly make you thankful that you're not the characters being hunted by a brutal serial killer dressed as John Carver. This horror reinvigorates the slasher subgenre in a way that hasn't been seen in a long time, embracing clichés while winking at the audience about their absurdity. There are far worse ways you could spend this year's holiday season, especially considering that Thanksgiving has a lot more to say about materialism in America than you might initially think.
What is 'Thanksgiving' About?
From the start, Thanksgiving embraces the ridiculousness of the slasher genre. The plot centers around a catastrophe when a large crowd breaks into a manic riot while eagerly waiting for Black Friday to begin, as many people will also be doing this year. This riot sees a flurry of brutal deaths, including a security guard being trampled, a consumer slashing their neck open on broken glass, and Gina Gershon's character having her neck broken after a trolley slams into her body on the ground, eventually tearing away her scalp as rioters fight over discounted products.
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Posts 7 By Justine Kraemer 7 days agoOne year later, a murderer appears in the town, going on a killing spree that sees participants of the riot brutally massacred in different and creative ways, with the main target being a bunch of high school kids who the killer blames for the riot, as they were the ones who antagonized the crowd after sneaking into the store early. With all the aspects one would expect: the high school bully, Evan (Tomaso Sanelli), the girl-next-door protagonist, Jessica (Nell Verlaque), and the woefully useless cops, Thanksgiving keeps its tension high with characters you want to see survive, get their comeuppance, and an elusive killer.
'Thanksgiving' Embraces the Clichés of the Slasher Genre
Image via Sony Pictures
So much about Thanksgiving is ridiculous. The initial riot is almost unbelievable, as it slowly grows more chaotic and bloody for seemingly no reason, and the high school setting feels ripped from the 1980s, with boys doing an over-hyped workout together in the gym. However, the comedic aspects of Thanksgiving make it clear that the film understands this and is in on the joke. Other characters around the town openly mock the high schoolers for starting a riot that killed people. Even the masked murderer is given hilarious beats, such as feeding and petting the cat of one of its victims, as well as being shown trying on different hats, a behind-the-scenes look we'd never get at someone like Jason Vorhees (Ari Lehman) or Michael Myers (Nick Castle). This allows the audience to laugh with the film, rather than dismissing it as silly, and creates a sense of nostalgia for other beloved slasher movies and some of the logical inconsistencies that exist in those surreal and often supernatural worlds.
'Thanksgiving' Argues That This Family Holiday Has Become Overshadowed By Greed and Capitalism
Most would assume that Thanksgiving is nothing more than what has just been described: a fun and silly slasher movie. However, it also makes an interesting commentary on the dangers of materialism. As previously mentioned, the riot started because of the mania surrounding the Black Friday sales, which start the day after Thanksgiving, with some people being pulled away from their family dinner to work in the store. Immediately, the film makes the point of how dangerous this obsession with capitalism can be, as it makes people more focused on objects than family, and that danger is then materialized in the form of the serial killer. Then there is Thomas (Rick Hoffman), Jessica's father and the owner of the store where the riot occurs, who refuses to close the store the following year. Here, Thanksgiving makes a wider critique of how corporate business interests overshadow human decency, with a less outlandish parallel with how they can cost lives.
Overall, there is so much to enjoy about Thanksgiving, whether it is the genre, the fun characters, the gory violence, or unexpected thematic explorations. With a Thanksgiving 2 script currently in development following a delay, as Roth recently confirmed on the Talk is Jericho podcast, via Parade, it'll be fascinating to see where the director can take this subgenre next. If the original Thanksgiving is anything to go by, it will be more than worth the wait.
Thanksgiving is available to stream on Hulu in the U.S.
Thanksgiving
Like Follow Followed R Horror Thriller Release Date November 17, 2023 Runtime 106 Minutes Director Eli Roth Writers Eli Roth, Jeff RendellCast
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