The Grinch

**The Grinch** is a 2018 film starring Benedict Cumberbatch, Rashida Jones, Kenan Thompson, Cameron Seely and Angela Lansbury, directed by Yarrow Cheney and Scott Mosier, written by Michael LeSieur and Tommy Swerdlow and produced by Janet Healy and Christopher Meledandri.

The film was a financial success as it generated a profit of $112 million.

## Plot

In the town of Whoville, the humanoids called Whos are filled with excitement about celebrating Christmas. However, the only one who isn't amused is a cantankerous and green-furred creature named the Grinch, who has a heart "two sizes too small" and lives in a cave on the top of Mount Crumpit just north of Whoville. The Grinch only visits Whoville when he needs to buy food and do bad things.

Meanwhile, 6-year-old Cindy Lou Who notices that her single mother Donna is overworked trying to take care of herself and her baby twin brothers, Buster and Bean. Initially deciding to send a letter to Santa Claus to help her mother, Cindy encounters the Grinch, who sarcastically tells her that she'll have to talk to Santa face-to-face about it; she then decides to go to the North Pole to talk to Santa, but when Donna tells her that it would take a month to get there and back home, her final decision is to try trapping Santa with the help of her friends.

With Christmas approaching, all the Whoville festivities give the Grinch a flashback about his terrible childhood spent mostly alone and unwanted in an orphanage. The Grinch soon decides that he will steal Christmas from Whoville to assuage his distress. He acquires a fat reindeer whom he calls Fred to help him pull a sleigh stolen from his neighbor Mr. Bricklebaum. After a test run, the Grinch discovers that Fred has a family. With a heavy heart, he lets Fred go home with them.

On Christmas Eve, after making a Santa disguise and dozens of gadgets to help him with his plan, the Grinch and his pet dog Max, who pulls the sleigh in Fred's place, go down to Whoville to steal the decorations and presents. He soon encounters Cindy after falling into her trap; her request to help lighten her mother's workload and her kind advice about listening to the Whos' singing to alleviate his sadness touches the Grinch's heart. Despite this, the Grinch continues his mission.

After stealing every Christmas present and decoration, the Grinch and Max head back to Mount Crumpit to dispose of them. The Whos wake up and are shocked to see that the presents and decorations are gone; Cindy believes that she's to blame because she "trapped" Santa, but Donna tells her that Christmas is more than just about presents and that Cindy's the best thing that ever happened to her. The Whos then join together to sing. The Grinch and Max hear the singing, rendering the Grinch puzzled to see that they are celebrating Christmas despite his thefts. After heeding Cindy's advice and immersing himself to their singing, his small bitter heart triples in its original size. The sleigh falls off Mount Crumpit, to which the Grinch tries to save it. In the nick of time, Fred and his family come to his aid. After securing the sleigh, the Grinch and Max slide down back to Whoville in order to return the stolen items where a guilt-ridden and remorseful Grinch admits his crimes and apologizes to the Whos before returning to his cave, ashamed of what he has done.

Feeling sorry for the Grinch, Cindy Lou invites him to celebrate Christmas at her house, which he awkwardly attends. When seated down for dinner, he confesses that it wasn't really Christmas he despised, but being alone and his bitterness over being neglected. Before carving the roast beast, the Grinch offers a toast "To kindness and love, the things we need most."