Review of Thanksgiving, directed by Eli Roth

I remember when this movie first came out, people were obsessing over it. I mean it was only a matter of time before we got something like this out in the world, but I never expected it to be as mainstream as it was.

Anyways, when this first came out, I had a movie subscription to the local national chain: AMC Theaters. For only $25 a month, I had access to all of the movies they were releasing three times a week. Yet, for some reason, I never went to see Thanksgiving in theaters.

That said, it took the movie to appear on Netflix for me to finally get myself together and see it. I was bored in May 2024 because I had finished up graduate school, had no jobs yet, and was preparing to leave for South Korea in a month. That meant I was watching a ton of movies to fill my free time, so when this was added, I watched it within the same day.

And to be honest, I actually knew nothing about this movie going into it. I’m kind of glad I did this, as I was able to come in with a much fresher mind and perspective than if I had come into it having an idea of what was about to unfold.

I’m rambling already, so let’s get into the blog post.

A killer dressed as John Carver enacts his revenge throughout one small town.

So this movie takes place in Plymouth, Massachusetts, hence why there’s such a heavy Pilgrim theme going on throughout this film. We begin in an event that shapes the rest of the film: Black Friday.

Outside of one RightMart superstore in the town, a crowd is preparing to rush in when the doors open. They’re going to have a massive sale, and the people are so ready to get their goods. Jessica, with her friends Evan, Gabby, Scuba, Yulia, and boyfriend Bobby, enter early through a side door. Turns out Jessica’s dad owns the place.

But when the crowd notices them inside the store, they violently enter, killing multiple people in the process, including the security guard and the manager’s wife. Bobby’s arm breaks in the stampede, and after the vent, he moves away and doesn’t contact anyone from the friend group again.

A year passes, and RightMart, despite local protestors, is gearing up for their next big Black Friday sale. Bobby comes back into town and sees the old friend group, including Jessica with her new boyfriend Ryan. Things go awry quickly when a man in a John Carver masks kills waitress Lizzie at the diner, then hangs her headless body from the RightMart logo.

The local news goes into a frenzy, and we realize that Lizzie was there during the Black Friday tragedy. The friend group starts getting tagged in Instagram posts that are creepy and set around a Thanksgiving table, and the captions are weirdly threatening. After more residents of the town are brutally killed by the guy in the mask, they realize people who were at the sale are getting picked off.

While at school one day, Evan and Gaby are kidnapped by the killer, and Jessica runs away from him as he chases through the halls of the school. As Yulia’s dad prepares to move them down south away from the chaos, the killer breaks into their home and kills Yulia with a table saw, as well as her dad in the doorway.

The cops realize a problem is happening, and try to lure the killer in the Thanksgiving parade. He kills a mascot and sets off smoke bombs, fleeing and taking the Wrights and Scuba. As they’re unconscious at his dinner table, he literally cooks Jessica’s stepmother alive and serves her as the turkey at the dinner table.

The corpses are also at the dinner table, and Evan is bludgeoned to death as he livestreams. Jessica and Scuba get out of there, leaving the others behind, and she finds the Sheriff unconscious in the warehouse. She then thinks Bobby is the killer, as he is wearing the John Carver costume.

But at the police station, Jessica realizes the Sheriff has the same debris on his clothes as her, and she comes to terms that he’s the killer. He then confesses, as he wanted to kill everyone because he had an affair with one of the victims, and she was pregnant with his child. He’d kidnapped Bobby and put him in the costume.

Turns out though Jessica was live streaming everything, and she narrowly escapes with Bobby. The Sheriff is killed after they have a turkey parade balloon exploding, but the authorities are unable to find his body. The movie ends with Jessica having nightmares that he is still alive.

Overall Thoughts

I’d say this was a pretty fun movie. There were some moments that seriously had me cringing, as this killer was pretty creative with his methods. The cheerleader’s death specifically freaked me out, as well as the stepmother being served as a turkey.

That said, I don’t know if I would return to this movie. It feels like to me as a one and done kind of deal, and that it wasn’t compelling enough for a rewatch. The killer’s motives also are kind of flat, and his confession feels a little too contrived.

I’m glad I watched it though. If you haven’t watched and want to, you should give it a shot!

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