Violent Night

Violent Night is a 2022 American Christmas action comedy film directed by Tommy Wirkola and written by Pat Casey and Josh Miller. It follows Santa Claus (portrayed by David Harbour) as he fights mercenaries who have taken a wealthy family hostage in their home. The film also stars John Leguizamo, Alex Hassell, and Beverly D'Angelo.
Violent Night had its world premiere at the New York Comic Con on October 7, 2022. Universal Pictures released the film in theaters in the United States on December 2, 2022. The film received generally positive reviews from critics and grossed $76.6 million worldwide. A sequel is in development.
Plot
In Greenwich, Connecticut, Jason Lightstone and his estranged wife Linda take their daughter Trudy to his mother Gertrude's mansion for a Christmas gathering. They overhear Trudy's wish for family unity through an old walkie-talkie. Other family members at the gathering are Jason's sister Alva, her boyfriend Morgan Steele, and her son Bert. Meanwhile, Santa Claus arrives at the estate, just as caterers reveal themselves as mercenaries, led by "Mr. Scrooge," and take the family hostage after killing the staff.
Santa, discovered by a henchman, fights him off, causing his reindeer to flee. Stranded, he decides to rescue Trudy and her family from Scrooge, who wants the mansion's $300 million. After killing another henchman, Santa takes his radio and finds Trudy's channel, as well as the mercenaries on his naughty list. When her walkie-talkie is found, Jason denies Santa's existence, making Trudy hide in the attic. Santa reassures her over the radio, revealing his ancient Viking past. Meanwhile, Krampus forces the family to give gifts, and Gertrude is surprised by a card from Jason.
Wounded Santa is captured by Scrooge, who hates Christmas. Recognizing their real identities, Santa convinces henchmen Gingerbread and Candy Cane of his authenticity and escapes magically, although his magic sack is burned. Gertrude's "kill squad," led by Commander Thorp and allied with Scrooge, arrives and kills Morgan. Discovering an empty vault, Scrooge threatens Linda. Jason admits he stole the money, hidden in an outdoor nativity, and planned to flee with his family. Gertrude forgives him, revealing this as a Lightstone family rite of passage and naming him her heir.
In a shed, Santa finds a sledgehammer and eliminates the kill squad. Trudy sets up Home Alone-inspired traps, leading to Gingerbread's death. Santa kills Candy Cane before she can shoot Trudy. Alva, Linda, and Bert thwart Scrooge's order to kill hostages by killing Krampus. Scrooge and Thorp escape into the woods with Gertrude and the money, pursued by Santa. Linda kills the final mercenary, and Trudy witnesses her parents' reunion. Santa and Scrooge fight in a cabin; as they grapple, Santa magically flies up the chimney, mangling Scrooge’s body and killing him.
Thorp fatally shoots Santa but is killed by Gertrude. Despite using burnt money for warmth, Santa appears to die. Trudy rallies her family to affirm their belief in Santa, reviving him. Confused by the magic but renewed in faith, Santa receives his returning reindeer, a note from Mrs. Claus, and a new gift sack. He bids Trudy farewell and continues his gift deliveries.
In a mid-credits scene, Bert vlogs next to a dead mercenary, telling his viewers that Santa is real and warning them to behave during Christmas.
Cast
Production
In March 2020, Universal Pictures announced that it acquired the original screenplay to Violent Night by Pat Casey and Josh Miller and that 87North Productions would produce. In November 2021, David Harbour was cast in the lead role, with Tommy Wirkola set to direct. Wirkola was hired to direct after he sent an early cut of his prior film The Trip to producers at 87North, and after enjoying it, they sent him the Violent Night script. In early 2022, John Leguizamo, Beverly D'Angelo, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Edi Patterson, Cam Gigandet, and André Eriksen were confirmed to star. The shooting of the film took place from January–March 2022.
Release
Violent Night had its world premiere at the New York Comic Con on October 7, 2022. Universal Pictures released the film in the United States and Canada on December 2, 2022.
Home media
Violent Night was released on VOD on December 20, 2022. The film was added to Peacock on January 20, 2023. That same day, it became available for digital purchase, while the Blu-ray and DVD release followed on January 24.
Reception
Box office
Violent Night grossed $50.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $26.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $76.6 million.
The film was projected to gross around $10 million from 3,682 theaters in its opening weekend. it made $4.9 million on its first day, including $1.1 million from Thursday night previews, and went on to debut to $13.5 million, finishing second behind holdover Black Panther: Wakanda Forever. The film fell 37% in its sophomore weekend to $8.7 million, remaining in second.
Critical reception
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 74% based on 208 reviews with an average rating of 6.4/10. The website's critics consensus reads "Violent Night isn't as wildly entertaining as its concept might suggest, but for those seeking harder-edged holiday fare, it may be a ho-ho-whole lot of fun." Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 55 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". Opening weekend audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 76%.
MovieWeb wrote, "The first reviews... heap praise on David Harbour's savage Santa Claus." Syfy wrote that "critics hail what might be a new holiday classic that more than earns its R-rating by turning every conceivable Christmas item into a deadly weapon" and that Harbour "steals the show". Total Film wrote that reviews were mixed, "Some critics are calling Tommy Wirkola's movie a fun riff on the festive genre, while others are critical of its plot and length." Box Office Mojo said, "Critics mostly like it."
Future
In November 2022, Harbour mentioned that there were discussions of Mrs. Claus appearing in a potential sequel during production of the first film. The actor expressed interest in seeing Charlize Theron in the role. In December of the same year, Wirkola confirmed that there have been ongoing discussions between him and the writers; with potential for Mrs. Claus, the North Pole, and the elves factoring into the story. The filmmaker stated that the realization of a follow-up movie depends on the success of the first film. Later that month, producer Kelly McCormick confirmed that all creatives involved intend to make a sequel with work on the project commencing in "the next few weeks". In January 2023, it was confirmed that a sequel is already in the works.
See also
Covina massacre
List of Christmas films
Santa Claus in film
References
External links
Violent Night at Rotten Tomatoes
2020s American films
2020s Christmas comedy films
2020s English-language films
2020s heist films
2020s satirical films
2022 action comedy films
2022 black comedy films
American action comedy films
American black comedy films
American Christmas comedy films
American heist films
American satirical films
Films about kidnapping
Films about mercenaries
Films directed by Tommy Wirkola
Films scored by Dominic Lewis
Films set in Bristol
Films set in Connecticut
Films set in country houses
Films shot in Winnipeg
Films with screenplays by Josh Miller (filmmaker)
Films with screenplays by Patrick Casey (writer)
Home invasions in film
IMAX films
Santa Claus in film
Universal Pictures films
2020s horror films
American supernatural horror films
Christmas horror films
American splatter films
Krampus in film