It's rare to find a film that nails the slasher formula as effectively as "Thanksgiving," the new horror flick from Eli Roth. While the genre's playbook may seem relatively straightforward (all you need is a captivating killer, a convincing final girl, and, whenever possible, a plausible premise), "Thanksgiving" consistently hits the mark with each of its elements: the iconic killer John Carver, the relatable young Jessica, and, above all, the Thanksgiving Day premise is flawlessly utilized.
It might even seem like an exaggeration, but "Thanksgiving" is genuinely remarkable because it accomplishes all of this with admirable ease, even after its 20-year gestation period. For a film that originated from a fictitious trailer 15 years ago (the teaser for "Thanksgiving" was part of the Grindhouse release, a film that combined "Death Proof" and "Planet Terror" with a collection of fake trailers), Roth's nonchalance throughout the duration of "Thanksgiving" is notable. His key success in the project's evolution over the years was keeping the absurdity in check. Despite the film featuring some fantastic, gruesome, and inventive deaths, it never leans into the parody energy that was central to the 2007 preview.
The catalyst for the events of "Thanksgiving" is a fateful Black Friday in the town of Plymouth, Massachusetts, where the Right Mart department store becomes the backdrop for a violent collective hysteria. One year later, Jessica (the store owner's daughter) and her friends become the targets of a masked maniac who hunts down everyone who entered Right Mart before the gates opened. The pursuit of the young people naturally results in several victims along the way, with entertaining death scenes – whether in a refrigerator, an oven, or simply at a teenage party. Killer John Carver ravages Plymouth while the audience, along with the group of friends, speculates about who is behind the mask.
The array of suspects – including an ex-boyfriend, an ambitious father, police officers, disposable friends, and more – piles up in a well-constructed whodunit narrative, worthy of challenging the "Scream" reboot. "Thanksgiving" successfully captures the atmosphere of this particular type of slasher in 2023. The comparisons with the franchise don't stop there: Roth's film's self-awareness, combined with a good balance of humor and scares, makes "Thanksgiving" one of the slashers that best utilizes what worked in the 1996 film – and it does so without relying on nostalgia.
"Thanksgiving" is, in fact, a decidedly modern horror, bearing the unmistakable mark of its time. From sinister Instagram hashtags to the casting of TikTok celebrity Addison Rae, and the pointed critique of rampant consumerism (nothing new, but now specifically inspired by the escalating chaos of Black Fridays and store looting in the U.S.), everything screams 2023. Yet much of it is also instantly iconic, from the great massacre scene at Right Mart to John Carver's mask. What Eli Roth achieves here may seem formulaic, but it's not easy to come by – and "Thanksgiving" can indeed be called worthy of joining the ranks of classic holiday-themed horror films.
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