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 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, and follows a small Massachusetts town that is terrorized by a killer in a John Carver mask around the Thanksgiving holiday.

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 in development.

Plot
A mob gathers outside the superstore in preparation for a sale. Store owner Thomas's daughter Jessica Wright lets her friends inside early. The crowd notices them and stampedes into the store in a frenzy. Amanda (wife of employee, Mitch), a security guard and a customer are killed in the chaos. Jessica's friend, Bobby, gets his arm shattered in the riot and moves away.

The following year, RightMart begins preparations for another sale, and Bobby returns to Plymouth. A waitress named Lizzie is killed by a figure wearing a John Carver mask. Lizzie's involvement in the RightMart riot leads police to believe those involved are being targeted.

The assailant tags Jessica and her friends in grisly social media posts. Jessica lends camera footage from the night of the riot to the town's sheriff. Carver kills several more residents involved in the riot, including students Lonnie and Amy, and security guard Manny. Evan and Gaby are soon abducted. Yulia is attacked next in her home. Jessica and Scuba make it there but are unable to stop Carver from disemboweling her with a saw. The police attempt to lure Carver out by having the Wright family participate in the Thanksgiving parade. Carver decapitates a mascot and sets off bombs, causing chaos in which he is able to abduct Kathleen, Jessica, her father, and Scuba.

Jessica's stepmother 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. The killer bludgeons Evan to death in a livestream in front of the others. Jessica and Scuba escape from the table and the killer chases Jessica through the woods. She then comes upon Sheriff Newlon lying on the pavement. She takes his gun and follows signs of movement into a building where parade float materials are being stored. She sees Bobby in the Carver costume. Sheriff Newlon 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. Jessica notices the same debris from the woods stuck to her clothing and Newlon's, which suggests that he's the perpetrator. Newlon reveals his motives for the murders- Amanda was planning to divorce Mitch to be with Newlon. Newlon began targeting those he held responsible for the riot, as their negligence and violence caused Amanda's death. Newlon had abducted Bobby and put him in the Carver costume to frame him. A horrified Newlon realizes Jessica has live-streamed his confession, exposing him as the killer. He attacks her, but Bobby intervenes.

An enraged Newlon attacks again, intent on killing Jessica for ruining his plans and his life. Jessica loads a musket using her mother's bracelet then shoots down a balloon attached to a tank of gas, causing an explosion that engulfs Newlon. She reunites with Ryan and Scuba while Bobby is taken to the hospital. Authorities are unable to find Newlon's body. Jessica has a nightmare in which she is attacked by a flaming Newlon.

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 United States 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.

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 $46.5 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 had been greenlit for a 2025 release.