Christmas and Halloween are two of the biggest holidays of the year, and there are a copious number of movies dedicated to them, but Thanksgiving, which is arguably just as big really does not have much if any movies associated with it. I did a quick google search, because I felt like I had to be missing something, but besides a few animated turkey kid’s movies, and, of course, It’s Thanksgiving Charlie Brown there is not much there. There are some movies that have key scenes that take place at Thanksgiving that were listed, like Prisoners and The Blind Side, but again, when I think of those movies, I do not think Thanksgiving. There were apparently some horror Thanksgiving movies: the Thankskilling franchise, which I have never heard of and Pilgrim, and now Eli Roth is putting his stamp on Thanksgiving with a gory slasher, that he has been dreaming of since he was 12.
In Plymouth, Massachusetts, Thanksgiving is a very big deal, due to the holiday originating in the town, but just like every other town, Thanksgiving has been diluted by consumerism and deals. RightMart, the equivalent to Walmart, is one of the stores that is having a big blow out sale drawing a massive crowd, because when a customer makes a purchase, they get a free waffle iron. The family that owns RightMart lives in town, and they got to enjoy a nice Thanksgiving meal in their fancy house with family, before the kids take off for the store, where they cut the line, buy what they need, and accidently incite a riot that results in multiple deaths and numerous catastrophic injuries.
Fast forward a year, and despite the tragedy that occurred, RightMart is planning on having another Black Friday sale. Then the murders start, and these are no common murders, they are brutal, and appendages are being strewn across the RightMart sign, and the kids that cut the line start to get tagged in pictures of the murders on Instagram, implying that they are on the list of the killer. The killer is setting up a Thanksgiving table in the photos, but instead of cooking tasty dishes, he is using body parts to fill the platters. It seems like multiple people have the motive to be the killer, but who is the one doing it?
The whole idea of the movie is criticizing the consumer culture, and how messed it up is that people must work on a holiday, when they should be at home with their families. Eli Roth said as much in an interview that I heard on The Slash Film Daily Podcast. The family that owns RightMart does not have to go to work, because they have all the money and the power, but they still make their workers go in and work late hours in chaotic situations. The riot occurred because there was a massive mob of people waiting to be let into the store, and once the store opened its doors, the people would sprint into the store, a recipe for disaster. Often, this occurs over something stupid too, in this instance, a free waffle maker, that might get used a couple of times a year, if that. Roth also mentioned that many of these people line up for these deals, because they need to save money, and they would not be able to buy presents for their kids otherwise, which is a way I had not looked at it before.
But people did not go to see this movie to hear its director’s criticism of Black Friday, they went for the kills, and this movie definitely brought them. The one that made me cringe the most upon seeing it, involved a trampoline. There is a cheerleader bouncing up and down on a trampoline in a dark gym, and when she comes down, the killer sticks a knife into the trampoline, and it pierces her foot, and anytime there is a foot stabbing that comes close to the Achilles, I cannot not help but cringe. Then once she has fallen on the trampoline, the killer proceeds to stab her multiple times.
The most cringy kill came from the lady being cooked alive in the oven. That was absolutely brutal. I think that might be the worst way to die. Suffocation/drowning would be bad, but burning alive, the person must feel the searing pain and be in total agony. Then once the person was cooked, the killer placed the golden crisp body on the Thanksgiving table where all his captives were forced to look at the human turkey. The original version of the movie did not have this scene, but after test screenings, they wanted more violence, and Roth knew just what to add.
That is just two of the kills. There are many more, and they are also creative and gory, which is why I think this movie is receiving relatively good scores on the rating sites. On Letterboxd, it has a 3.5 average out of 5, and on IMDB it is has a 7, which is basically the same thing, and those are high average ratings for a movie. I gave it two stars. The story was annoying, but the kills were good, and I did have a fun time watching it. Much of it was absurd, so something would happen, and then multiple people would laugh, because it was unbelievable, like the turkey thermometer popping, when the lady was done being cooked. Also there was a surprising amount of people at the theater to see a 1:50 in the afternoon screening of Thanksgiving, like way more people than usual when I go to an early Friday afternoon movie, and the audience was eating it up, pun intended. So let us all join together and make this gory masterpiece the official movie for Thanksgiving.
Another release this week was Taika Waititi’s new film Next Goal Wins. I am a very big fan of Waititi, so I was pretty excited to see this. He always makes movies and shows that are comedic, but they also tug on heart strings and bring tears to your eyes. This movie, however, did not reach the height of his others. I gave it three stars, which is not bad, but I wanted it to be much better. It did make me laugh, and the end did provide some goosebumps, but ultimately my buy in to this story was minimal compared to his other works. So instead, I suggest watching Reservation Dogs, Jojo Rabbit, or Hunt for the Wilderpeople.
Finally, I went and saw Hunger Games: Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes. The title Hunger Games says Thanksgiving movie, but sadly this was not about Thanksgiving. It is President Snow’s origin story, and that is the story of a man, who is so blinded by ambition that he does not care what bodies lay in his wake, as long as he can achieve his goals. It was apiece with the other movies in the series, but it was lacking a great arena for the games, and it also felt like the movie was about to end 100 minutes in, but then there is a whole other hour. It never lost my attention, but the final act just felt like a massive epilogue.
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