“Violent Night” (2022) takes place on Christmas Eve as a disillusioned, burnt-out Santa (David Harbour) is going through the motions of distributing presents to children. Santa arrives then gets trapped at the powerful, affluent, infighting Lightstone family compound where mercenaries are holding the family hostage and killing anyone else during a heist to steal the Lightstone’s ill-gotten fortune. While initially scared and trying to escape, Santa takes a stand to protect Trudy (Leah Brady), the only uncorrupted member of the family and a highlight on his shrinking nice list.
If you want to see “Violent Night,” you are probably the right audience for the movie. I enjoy violent, holiday themed movies as a palette cleanser to counter the more traditional, saccharine, cinematic offerings. The filmmakers are familiar with Christmas fare on both sides of the aisle and pay homage to subversive Yuletide fare as “Bad Santa” (2003), “Home Alone” (1990) and “Die Hard” (1988). I did not feel as if the gimmick went on too long, especially since the violence escalated as the movie unfolded. The movie goes for the gore and even made me wince. The filmmakers seem to be fans of the classic holiday and had fun messing around, including an alleged veiled dig at Mark Wahlberg.
What elevates “Violent Night” from a mindless, holiday-themed action film was its ability to balance the violence and the heartwarming emotions. The film’s ability to elicit genuine emotions and tears, especially during the scenes between Santa and Trudy, shows that it is not just a cynical money-making scheme. We all want a world where Santa or anyone hears that a child is in trouble and tries to rescue them. Everyone who made this film had a heart. While this Santa is far from a traditional Jesus figure, the film uses elements from Christian themed movies such as Jesus truly seeing and knowing a person whom he just met thus convincing that person of his identity and distinctness, but also restoring a sense of faith and wonder in a hardened adult. When Santa talks to the bad guys, he has similar moments. It is a secular/pagan take on loss of faith and need to believe in the wonder and innate, incomprehensible magic of the season. Santa is heartbroken because he remembers them as children and wonders what went wrong. The mercenaries are shaken because Santa has bypassed their hardened exterior and aimed for their hearts, their inner child. There is an opportunity for redemption for the bad guys, but they do not take it and double down on committing to their original agenda though they are vulnerable.
Casting Harbour as Santa was brilliant because he brings the physicality and emotional nuance. Harbour takes us on an emotional journey through Santa’s psyche, and I loved that it starts with him appreciating some good old-fashioned, homemade cookies. He connects to the old days when being Santa was meaningful. His fear and wanting to be safe made sense and were not repulsive. He has not faced a threat for over a millennium. Chef’s kiss to Santa’s origin story though “Violent Night” never reveals how he became Santa or met his wife, which is probably being saved for sequels, which yes, please. I had incorrectly guessed that because of Santa’s dissolute pass, he was like the mercenaries, and one of them would end up taking his mantle, but nope, did not happen. As Santa began to integrate his past identity with his present identity and become a full, morally complex individual, I loved the moment when Harbour starts saying Santa’s name in different languages almost like a threat as if he was Keyser Soze, “Weihnachtsmann. Julenissen. Shèngdàn Laorén. Babbo Natale, Père Noel, Kris Kringle. Jolly old Saint Nick. People call me a lot of things.” While Santa is a supernatural figure, the film was smart to never take his mortality off the table. A dumb action film becomes a universal story about a person in crisis, self-medicating with alcohol, able to embrace his many selves, especially the part that brings him shame, rediscover his sense of purpose and leave the dichotomy of good versus evil, naughty or nice, and make it whole.
Child actors can be annoying, but Brady works though her Kevin McAllister impression is disturbing and her high-pitched scream almost lost me forever. Her work with Harbour made her a strong second in the cast. “You mean more than just the presents you bring.” In…the…heart…. She also showed how despite being nice, she was innately a Lighthouse. The rest of the cast was serviceable, but with a bigger budget to afford more notable character actors as the family, the movie could have been better. [When Harbour suggested that in the future, Charlize Theron gets cast as Mrs. Claus, I said to myself, “Sir, with what budget.”] While individual members of the family worked, they never felt credible as a family with a shared history. I wanted to love the mean matriarch, but Beverly D’Angelo will not be entering the Jessica Walter (Arrested Development’s Lucille Bluth), Megan Mullally (Will & Grace’s Karen Walker), Meryl Streep (The Devil Wears Prada’s Miranda Priestly) or Viola Davis (Amanda Waller) hall of fame. My favorite family scene included alcoholic Alva Lightstone (Edi Patterson), her teenage son (Alexander Elliot) and in-law Linda (Alexis Louder), Trudy’s mom, turn on each other then band together. It was a nice moment that revealed that while Linda was comparatively decent compared to the rest of the Lighthouses, there was a reason that she did not initially see the red flags and steer clear of her husband.
Jason Lightstone (Alex Hassell), Trudy’s dad, was underwritten and is almost entirely forgettable and laughable in the denouement struggle to survive. His relationship to other characters defines him, and I am supposed to believe that he is likeable because he had the good taste to marry a black woman and have a decent kid. No, your ability to socialize with black people does not make you redeemable and affable. Why did he need a ride and was just waiting on some random sidewalk? A character actor like James Frain or Rufus Sewell could have made a meal out of nothing. I’m sure that Hassell is a fine actor, and he did not do anything wrong, he just did not stand out.
The casting of the mercenaries felt perfect. They are simultaneously archetypes and individually sadistic. No one is going to leave “Violent Night” mixing up Krampus (Brendan Fletcher) with Gingerbread (Andre Eriksen). Candy Cane (Mitra Suri) was a standout. Even silent Sugarplum (Stephanie Sy) is memorable. Because I avoided any promotion about the film, I was surprised and happy to see John Leguizamo, who chews the scenery and has the best profane line to puncture Santa’s magic, “It’s a lucky guess, like, ‘Hey, do you like big tits.’ Come on, every kid wants a fucking bike.” I’m really excited that Leguizamo is getting a lot of screen time with this film and “The Menu” (2022).
I loved the costume design for Santa. He wears leather, and the red of his outfit is not bright. That texture distinguishes him from his softer, fake counterparts. The hair was also a nice touch how he reverts to a man bun to fight better. It was very samurai like. The soundtrack is deliberately very broad, 80s style action movie.
While promoting “Violent Night,” Harbour suggested “Santa Cinematic Universe, a bunch of daddies (Oscar Isaac and Pedro Pascal as Easter Bunny and Tooth Fairy) as imaginary creatures.” I’m down. Where is the Kickstarter? I was not into “Dead Snow” (2009) or “Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters” (2013), but director Tommy Wirkola did not disappoint with this one. I’m unfamiliar with writers Pat Casey and Josh Miller, but Wirkola should keep them close as collaborators.
