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Film Review: Thanksgiving

Welcome back to the blog readers. Apologies for the hiatus, it was a bit slow in my blog life. Now you know that I have a love/hate relationship with horror films and the genre as a whole. There are some that are wonderful and others that make you question your own existence. Especially in the last few years, the slasher genre has seen some big hits for me, mainly with the Scream films (Scream (2022) and Scream VI (2023) being the notable ones). So when I heard of a new slasher film called Thanksgiving, I thought it was going to be gimmicky and dull, but word of mouth got strong and reviews were positive, so I knew I had to check it out. So what would my opinions of the film be? Stick around to find out.


Thanksgiving is directed by Eli Roth from a screenplay by Jeff Rendell and a story by Roth and Rendell. The film stars Patrick Dempsey, Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks, Nell Verlaque, Rick Hoffman, and Gina Gershon, with Adam MacDonald providing the voice of John Carver. In the film, one year after a Thanksgiving tragedy, the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts is terrorized by a mysterious killer wielding an axe and a John Carver mask.


Scream VI is still one of the better horror/slasher films of the year so Thanksgiving had some mighty high expectations to match up to. And if there is one thing I am thankful for this Thanksgiving, it is how fucking delightful this film is. Thanksgiving is a bloody, violent, funny, and slick film with great characters, great violence, and great heart. I love this film a hell of a lot more than I should.


If there is one performance I have to point out in this film, it absolutely would be that of Patrick Dempsey. Dempsey, I would argue, is the glue that holds this film together. His magnetic, larger-than-life personality breathes so much life into this film and into his character. As a man with something to lose, Dempsey plays his character, who is the sheriff, a little too close to home for some. He comes off as the likable advice man, but something dark is brewing underneath and when that fury is unleashed, it is wicked fun and something only Dempsey could bring to the table.


The rest of the cast is awesome as well. Nell Verlaque is believable as our "lead girl," Jalen Thomas Brooks as her friend is awesome, Milo Manheim as the dick new boyfriend is delightful to watch. Even internet personality Addison Rae is bearable in the film (although she should go back to TikTok after this and not make acting a career), Rick Hoffman is a treasure as the dick owner who is only in it for the money, and Adam MacDonald is slick as hell as the voice of John Carver.


I next want to talk about the violence. I obviously know that the Scream franchise is supposed to play with satire and that the kills are really unoriginal, but Thanksgiving is different in that regard. This film feels like a cross between Scream and Saw, with how gruesome and violent the kills are. I kid you not, one lady got cut in half by a dumpster lid and then had her bottom half on display, another woman was cooked in a giant oven, and someone else had their insides gutted by a jigsaw. And don't even get me started on the prologue of the film. It's bloody but damn brilliant.


One final thing I want to talk about is the message of the film. Something that I have noticed over the years is that horror films use their genre to push a message, and the message is usually about anxiety or regret or guilt or some emotion like that. I think those themes are definitely present here. Specifically, regret. Most of the characters in this film have regrets and guilt, and John Carver is used as a mechanism for them to get over these feelings. I think it was very effective.


In conclusion, Thanksgiving combines humor and violence to tell a shockingly compelling story held together by strong performances and a wicked good time. Thank you al for reading and I will see you for the next review.

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