We know the holidays are perfect for cozy Christmas films on Hallmark, warm drinks, and festive gatherings with all your loved ones, but Violent Night is here for the counter-programming audience. The people who know that Black Friday is the most accurate representation of the Christmas spirit: bone-crunching brawls in stores, crawls replete with drunken cosplayers in cheap velvet Santa suits, and the inevitable sense of disappointment in your fellow man. You know, how Christmas really turns out.
Christmas for the Lightstone family is similarly not going as planned. A team of mercenaries led by Ben (John Leguizamo) breaks into the family compound, taking everyone inside hostage. Eschewing the Reservoir Dogs routine with colour pseudonyms, the crew goes by Christmas codenames that betray their holiday feelings. All Scrooge (Leguizamo) and Krampus (Brendan Fletcher) want for Christmas is the $300 million that resides inside the Lightstone safe. It’s an easy score. But they didn’t count on Old Saint Nick being on the roof when it happened.
Director Tommy Wirkola, of Dead Snow fame, is bringing some season’s beatings to the well-worn story of Father Christmas. And there may not be a better choice for a curmudgeonly Santa than David Harbour. He certainly looks the part. The hat, the beard, and the belly laugh are all there, but it’s what he does with the features that truly set his Santa apart. Wirkola has previous experience retelling a classic with a twist. Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters made the Grimm tale siblings into steam-punk mercs who rid the woods of witches. That predilection for old-school gore and stylized violence carries over from that film to Violent Night. As Santa, Harbour dispatches mercenaries using candy canes, ice skates, and coal-shaped grenades. He can even use the red bag as a weapon.
Unafraid to tap into the lore of Santa, Harbour walks the line between mirth and menace adeptly. For those of you familiar with him only as Hopper from Stranger Things, you’ll be pleasantly surprised. Harbour’s line reading of “that bag was filled with children’s dreams” after a mercenary destroys gifts for kids is simply amazing. Violent Night doesn’t do anything particularly new with the naughty Santa subversion, but Harbour is such a perfect fit for the tone and characterization of the film that it’s easy enough to ignore. The script by Sonic writers Josh Miller and Patrick Casey blends references to holiday classics like Die Hard and Home Alone to position Violent Night as a potential fixture of viewers tired of White Christmas.
A movie like this is dependent upon the quality of the villain. Fortunately for viewers, Violent Night features John Leguizamo in pineapple-glazed ham mode, tearing through lines and hostages in equal measure. One could say he has the most fun in the film. Miller and Casey are careful not to leave their villains one-dimensional, though. Without proper motivation, viewers would snooze through their scenes until Santa appears again.
Beverly D’Angelo as Gertrude is another standout. The matriarch of the Lightstone family, Gertrude loves using Christmas as an opportunity to have her children prove their worth. This year is no exception. Her son Jason (Alex Hassell) and his wife Linda (Copshop standout Alexis Louder) bear the brunt of Gertrude’s displeasure at their estranged marriage, but they’re trying to keep it together long enough to create a magical time for daughter Trudy (Leah Brady).
Violent Night is an exuberantly bloody action-comedy, but it was clearly important for the filmmakers to keep it grounded with heart. After centuries of service, Santa is a tad burned out. Bringing toys to excited kids used to light up their faces, but now they only ask for cash or gift cards. Drowning his sorrows in a beer (sorry, no Coca-Cola here), he feels like life has moved past him. It isn’t until Santa sees himself through Trudy’s eyes that he feels of service.
Very self-aware, Violent Night knows just what tropes to poke and when to lean into sincerity. The film shares a similar tone with Deadpool 2; while it goes for gut laughs, you don’t leave with a caustic feeling. As fun as a kick-ass Santa can be, his relationship with Trudy is the linchpin of the film. Because, deep down, we want to believe. Before this starts to feel too schmaltzy, Harbour and Leguizamo have a gnarly good time beating the hell out of each other. Tired of Hallmark Christmas movies? Violent Night will definitely liven up your holiday viewing.
Violent Night lands in theatres December 2.