Thanksgiving
By Jeffrey M. Anderson,
Common Sense Media Reviewer
Common Sense Media Reviewers
Exceedingly gory, but also clever, witty holiday slasher.
A Lot or a Little?
What you will—and won't—find in this movie.
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Thanksgiving
Community Reviews
Based on 9 parent reviews
Old school slasher movie!
Instant thanksgiving classic!
What's the Story?
In Plymouth, Massachusetts, the owner of the Right Mart department store (Rick Hoffman) has decided to open for Black Friday early on THANKSGIVING evening. His daughter, Jess (Nell Verlaque), and her friends are headed to the movies when they decide to make a quick stop for supplies. They're let in the back door -- which means they have a front-row seat when the angry mob of shoppers outside storms the store. It's a frenzy that turns into a massacre, leaving several dead or injured. A year later, Jess, Gabby (Addison Rae), Yulia (Jenna Warren), Evan (Tomaso Sanelli), and Scuba (Gabriel Davenport) are still trying to come to terms with it. Suddenly they start getting social media posts depicting the dead bodies and severed heads of all of those who participated in that ghastly night. And it seems that the unknown killer, who likes to dress up as pilgrim John Carver, is now after Jess and her friends.
Is It Any Good?
This gory slasher movie is happily absent director Eli Roth's former cruel, misogynistic touches, taking instead a playful, self-aware approach that's both fun and darkly funny. Thanksgiving, like Machete and Hobo with a Shotgun before it, was born as one of the five phony trailers included in Quentin Tarantino and Robert Rodriguez's 2007 anthology film Grindhouse. That phony Thanksgiving trailer was made to look like a grungy artifact from the 1970s, and Roth has retained some of its shocking images -- including a person in a turkey suit being beheaded during a parade -- but updated the overall mood.
Thanksgiving feels similar in tone and in logic to meta-horror movies like Scream, Happy Death Day, Totally Killer, and It's a Wonderful Knife, but with a willingness to tiptoe ever slightly closer to the edge of taste. Yet certain touches, such as a pair of corn holders adorned with smiley faces, show more of a knack for playing the audience like a piano. Despite the humorous tone, there are definitely nightmare-worthy images. But that's what may lead horror hounds to decide that Thanksgiving is their new annual favorite to fire up while digesting that last bit of pumpkin pie.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about Thanksgiving's violence. How did it make you feel? Was it exciting? Shocking? What did the movie show or not show to achieve this effect? Why is that important?
Is the movie scary? What's the appeal of horror movies? Why do people sometimes enjoy being scared?
How does the movie view consumerism, especially in the form of frenzied Black Friday sales? Do you agree? Why, or why not?
What does the movie have to say about social media? Is it a positive or negative portrayal? Do you agree?
How is teen drinking portrayed? Is it glamorized? Are there consequences? Why does that matter?
Movie Details
- In theaters: November 15, 2023
- On DVD or streaming: January 30, 2024
- Cast: Nell Verlaque , Addison Rae , Patrick Dempsey
- Director: Eli Roth
- Inclusion Information: Female actors
- Studio: TriStar Pictures
- Genre: Horror
- Topics: Holidays
- Run time: 107 minutes
- MPAA rating: R
- MPAA explanation: strong bloody horror violence and gore, pervasive language and some sexual material
- Last updated: July 4, 2024
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