---
title: "Thanksgiving"
year: 2023
kind: "film"
canonical: "https://film.one/film/thanksgiving"
fi1m_id: "thanksgiving"
imdb_id: "tt1448754"
tmdb_id: 1071215
wikidata_id: "Q117210104"
fi1m_score: 70
critics_score: 73
critics_reviews: 14
published: "2026-09-10"
updated: "2026-09-18T08:38:04.571710+00:00"
region: "PL"
licence: "© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL."
---

# Thanksgiving (2023)

Directed by Eli Roth · 1h 46m · Horror, Mystery

## Identity

Thanksgiving

- **Canonical:** https://film.one/film/thanksgiving
- **Type:** Film
- **Fi1m ID:** thanksgiving
- **IMDb ID:** tt1448754
- **TMDB ID:** 1071215
- **Wikidata ID:** Q117210104
- **Same entity:** https://www.imdb.com/title/tt1448754/, https://www.themoviedb.org/movie/1071215, https://www.wikidata.org/wiki/Q117210104

**Fi1m score: 70** · Critics 73 from 14 reviews

*In a sentence:* The scariest thing on screen is the queue outside the superstore, and the film knows it

> Eli Roth’s holiday slasher opens with a Black Friday riot that is funnier and nastier than anything that follows it. The kills are inventive and the tone is right; the whodunnit around them is thin, and the middle hour marks time.

## Synopsis

In Plymouth, Massachusetts, a superstore opens early on the evening of Thanksgiving and the Black Friday crowd outside breaks through the doors. People die in the crush. A year later, as the town gets ready for the holiday again, someone in a pilgrim mask starts killing the people who were there that night. Jessica Wright (Nell Verlaque), whose father Thomas (Rick Hoffman) owns the store, and her friends (Addison Rae, Milo Manheim, Jalen Thomas Brooks) find themselves on the killer’s guest list. Sheriff Eric Newlon (Patrick Dempsey) investigates. Gina Gershon and Ty Olsson play Amanda and Mitch Collins. Eli Roth directs from a screenplay by Jeff Rendell, expanding the fake trailer Roth made for *Grindhouse* in 2007.

## Review

Eli Roth made a fake trailer for a slasher called *Thanksgiving* as part of *Grindhouse* in 2007, and sixteen years on he has made the film. It is set in Plymouth, Massachusetts, where a superstore opens on Thanksgiving night for the Black Friday sale, the crowd outside breaks through the glass, and several people are trampled or worse. A year later a man in a black hat and a plastic John Carver mask begins working through the survivors. It is a good slasher for an hour and a passable one after that, and its opening ten minutes are the best thing in it by some distance.

The riot is a proper set piece. Peter Mihaichuk’s store is all white fluorescent light and cardboard displays, and Milan Chadima shoots the car park outside in the orange of sodium lamps, so that when the doors give way the crowd pours out of orange dark into white light. Michele Conroy and Michel Aller cut it fast and low, at the level of trolleys and ankles, and the injuries arrive in glimpses: an arm through glass, a woman dragged by her hair under a trolley. Roth has timed it so that every horror is followed by something absurd, usually a person stepping over a body to reach a free waffle iron. We laughed, then felt slightly grubby about it, because the joke is that these people would kill for a discount and the film has just shown them doing it.

The killings that follow are built with the same care and mostly with real objects. The tagline promises no leftovers and the kills honour it: kitchen equipment and dinner service are pressed into use, and the effects are done with props and prosthetics rather than on a computer, so the blood has weight and the bodies come apart the way bodies do. Leslie Kavanagh’s costume for the killer is a black coat, a buckled hat and a hard plastic face with a painted smile, and it manages to look silly from across a car park and nasty in close-up. Brandon Roberts’s score is stabbing strings and synth in the manner of the early eighties, and it fits. The 18 certificate is earned early and often.

Patrick Dempsey plays Sheriff Newlon as a decent, slightly weary man who is pleased to be trusted, and he gives the film its one adult. Nell Verlaque’s Jessica is a capable final girl, quick to notice things and not written as a fool, which puts her ahead of most. Around her the teenagers are harder to tell apart. Addison Rae’s Gabriella is there to be looked at and to scream; Milo Manheim and Jalen Thomas Brooks, as the two boys with a claim on Jessica, are sketched in a line each. Gina Gershon and Rick Hoffman, as two of the adults who were in charge that night, are the ones who seem to know what kind of film they are in, and both are enjoyable for exactly as long as the script allows.

The trouble is the story between the kills. Jeff Rendell’s screenplay wants to be a whodunnit as well as a slasher, and it hands out suspects by rota: a shifty father, a resentful ex, a grieving husband, each given a scene of looking sinister and then dropped. None of it generates much suspense, because the film has not made us care who did it, only what he will do next. Somewhere in the middle hour we noticed we were waiting, checking how far along we were, and a 106-minute slasher should not allow that. [*Scream*](https://film.one/film/scream) (1996) managed to be funny about the rules and still frightening when it stopped joking; this is funny about the rules and then goes quiet for twenty minutes at a time.

Against Roth’s own films this is the most good-humoured thing he has made. *Cabin Fever* (2002) and *Hostel* (2005) wanted to make us feel ill; this wants us to laugh at the moment we flinch, and for the first hour it manages both. It also has less on its mind than it pretends. The jokes about greed and shopping are all in the opening. After that the film is a slasher like any other, with a better than average sense of humour and a worse than average plot.

It runs 106 minutes and does not waste many of them, which is worth something. See it with people who will laugh at the right moments, and do not eat first.

*Fi1m score 70, published 10 September 2026.*

## What the critics say

Most critics take Thanksgiving for what it is, a slasher grown out of a fake trailer, and find it does the job. The praise clusters on the kills: the practical effects, the holiday-themed staging, and an opening Black Friday riot that several reviews name as the strongest stretch of the film. Patrick Dempsey’s sheriff is singled out more than once, and Roth’s timing of shocks against laughs is widely credited. The spread is narrow, with no outright negatives; the reservations are about what surrounds the carnage rather than the carnage itself.

Radio Times finds the whodunnit thin and the tension slack, and the Los Angeles Times, the coolest of the reviews, calls the script underbaked and some of the gags dated. Vulture notes the invention fades as the film settles into its template, and Empire concedes the character work is light. Even the enthusiasts admit the formula is left exactly where Roth found it.

## Straight answers

**Is Thanksgiving worth watching?**

*Thanksgiving* is worth watching for slasher fans who want inventive, practical-effects kills and a sense of humour about them, and we scored it 70. The Black Friday riot that opens it is the best thing in the film, and the whodunnit that follows is thin, with a middle hour that marks time. See it with people who will laugh at the right moments.

**How long is Thanksgiving, and what is it rated?**

*Thanksgiving* runs 1h 46m. It is a horror and mystery film.

**Where can I watch Thanksgiving in Poland?**

*Thanksgiving* is not on any streaming or rental service in Poland at the moment. It is available in 40 other countries; change your country at the top of the page to see where. Availability is checked daily.

**How violent or frightening is Thanksgiving, and is it suitable for children?**

*Thanksgiving* is an 18-certificate slasher and earns it early and often, with kitchen equipment and dinner service pressed into use and bodies coming apart on prosthetics rather than computers. It is not suitable for children, and the squeamish should stay away. The tone is more comic than dread-filled, so it flinches and laughs at once rather than frightening for long stretches.

**How does Thanksgiving compare to Dawn of the Dead?**

*Thanksgiving* owes its opening Black Friday riot to [*Dawn of the Dead*](https://film.one/film/dawn-of-the-dead), whose shoppers keep coming back to the mall dead, and Romero's film is the better of the two by a clear margin. Roth's satire about greed is all spent in his first ten minutes, after which it becomes an ordinary slasher with good kills. Romero's violence keeps its purpose throughout, even where his satire repeats itself.

**What should I watch after Thanksgiving?**

After *Thanksgiving*, try [*Dawn of the Dead*](https://film.one/film/dawn-of-the-dead) (1978, Fi1m 86): Romero’s shoppers keep coming back to the mall dead; Roth’s riot owes it everything. Then [*Scream*](https://film.one/film/scream) (1996, Fi1m 86): The template Roth works from: masked killer, small town, jokes about the genre.

### Reviews we read (17)

- **The AV Club**, Matthew Jackson (B+): The critic calls it a gory, fun holiday slasher packed with memorable kills, knowing winks, and a strong final girl that satisfies fans of the original fake trailer. It delivers thrills and a brisk pace without pushing the formula in new directions. [Read](https://www.avclub.com/thanksgiving-movie-review-eli-roth-1851025475)
- **RogerEbert.com**, Nick Allen (80/100, inferred): The critic finds the film a thrillingly pure slasher with an 80s vibe that revives the genre effectively without modern jump-scare excess. He singles out the expert timing of shocks and laughs, along with the efficient character work and passion-project specificity. [Read](https://www.rogerebert.com/reviews/thanksgiving-movie-review-2023)
- **The Telegraph** (4/5): The critic calls it silly, sinew-spattered fun elevated by winking performances, especially Patrick Dempsey as the sheriff. They single out the hardcore gore scenes as a bloody feast for horror fans. [Read](https://www.telegraph.co.uk/films/0/thanksgiving-review-eli-roth-patrick-dempsey/)
- **Total Film**, James Mottram (80/100, inferred): The critic calls it a gleefully bloodthirsty slasher with brilliant practical effects and a smart, hilarious poke at consumerism and holiday greed. Notes the on-form Roth is having fun, even if the ending is unoriginal. [Read](https://www.gamesradar.com/thanksgiving-review/)
- **Empire**, James White (75/100, inferred): The critic describes it as Roth returning to gory slasher territory with fun, bloody holiday-themed kills and a dose of humour, though the film is light on substance and character depth. Praises the set-pieces as a satisfying, if empty-calorie, entertainment. [Read](https://www.empireonline.com/movies/reviews/thanksgiving-2023/)
- **Slant Magazine**, Kyle Turner (3/4): The critic praises it as a slick, mean contemporary slasher with satiric bite, inventive gore, and dark humor that comments on consumerism without overdoing irony. It is described as just good enough for horror fans hungry for the concept. [Read](https://www.slantmagazine.com/film/thanksgiving-review-eli-roth-patrick-dempsey/)
- **Variety**, Owen Gleiberman (75/100, inferred): The critic finds the film mostly slashing good fun that turns the old Grindhouse trailer satire into hip trash perfectly timed for the genre's revival. He singles out the brazen embrace of slasher tropes, the acidly funny Black Friday opening, and the over-the-top kills. [Read](https://variety.com/2023/film/reviews/thanksgiving-review-eli-roth-patrick-dempsey-grindhouse-1235790990/)
- **The New York Times**, Glenn Kenny (70/100, inferred): The critic sees the film as a full horror meal expanded from Roth's fake Grindhouse trailer, delivering seasonal slasher thrills. He singles out the toned-down yet effective gross-out set pieces and strong supporting performances amid the carnage. [Read](https://www.nytimes.com/2023/11/16/movies/thanksgiving-review.html)
- **Vulture**, Bilge Ebiri (65/100, inferred): The critic notes it follows a standard slasher template and gets less inventive as it goes but succeeds at delivering garish kills and the job done for gore fans. The opening Black Friday riot sequence is singled out as the strongest part. [Read](https://www.vulture.com/article/movie-review-eli-roths-thanksgiving-with-patrick-dempsey.html)
- **Radio Times**, Kevin Harley (3/5): The critic describes it as a darkly witty but underdeveloped slasher whodunnit, like Scream with more turkey puns and less tension. They praise the gallows humour in the holiday-themed atrocities and the killer's franchise potential, while complaining that there's not much meat on the story's bones due to weak plotting and characters. [Read](https://www.radiotimes.com/movie-guide/b-foxh5z/thanksgiving/)
- **Los Angeles Times**, Katie Walsh (50/100, inferred): The critic calls it an enthusiastic slasher romp but finds the script underbaked and some gags dated or juvenile. She singles out the strong holiday-themed kills and Roth's evident fun directing, while noting the overall result feels like a crumbly mess. [Read](https://www.latimes.com/entertainment-arts/movies/story/2023-11-15/thanksgiving-review-eli-roth-horror-addison-rae)
- **The Guardian**: The critic finds Roth has successfully expanded his 2007 Grindhouse trailer into an entertainingly gory full-length slasher about a pilgrim-masked killer in a small Massachusetts town. They single out Roth's skill at orchestrating tension, humor and inventive slayings without self-seriousness. [Read](https://www.theguardian.com/film/2023/nov/15/thanksgiving-movie-review-eli-roth-fun-slasher)
- **The Hollywood Reporter**, Frank Scheck: The critic finds it offers plenty of cheap kills and gore for genre fans but is no instant classic, more like April Fool’s Day than Halloween. The opening Black Friday riot sequence and imaginative practical-effect kills stand out. [Read](https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/movies/movie-reviews/thanksgiving-review-patrick-dempsey-eli-roth-1235647078/)
- **Collider**, Emma Kiely (B+): The critic praises the creative kills and visceral gore, calling it one of the best slashers in years that brings horror back to basics with nastiness and fun. They note the script is basic and Roth's tendencies but overall a good time. [Read](https://collider.com/thanksgiving-movie-review/)
- **Polygon**, Austen Goslin (80/100, inferred): The critic says it's a better Scream movie than recent reboots, landing convincingly between horror and comedy with a delicate balance of funny, tense, and gory. They single out the tone and gore for praise, though it doesn't reach Scream's heights. [Read](https://www.polygon.com/reviews/23964099/thanksgiving-movie-review/)
- **/Film**, Jeremy Mathai (7/10): The critic calls it a gnarly, entertaining, and gleefully over-the-top fright fest that mixes old-fashioned thrills with modern touches and effectively balances comedy with horror in its set pieces. They single out the gruesome kills and the film's satisfying crowd-pleasing qualities while noting minor pacing issues between kills. [Read](https://www.slashfilm.com/1447297/thanksgiving-review-eli-roth-horror-movie/)
- **The Wrap**: The critic finds Eli Roth's slasher entertaining and knowingly ridiculous, with a high body count and broad appeal as an old-school small-town horror. Patrick Dempsey's performance as the sheriff is singled out for praise as delicious. [Read](https://www.thewrap.com/thanksgiving-movie-review-eli-roth-patrick-dempsey/)

## Details

- **Director:** Eli Roth
- **Director:** Eli Roth
- **Screenplay:** Jeff Rendell
- **Story:** Jeff Rendell, Eli Roth
- **Cinematography:** Milan Chadima
- **Editor:** Michel Aller, Michele Conroy
- **Music:** Brandon Roberts
- **Production design:** Peter Mihaichuk
- **Costume design:** Leslie Kavanagh
- **Producer:** Eli Roth, Roger Birnbaum, Jeff Rendell
- **Cast:** Patrick Dempsey as Sheriff Eric Newlon; Nell Verlaque as Jessica Wright; Addison Rae as Gabriella Hearts; Milo Manheim as Ryan Baker; Jalen Thomas Brooks as Bobby Di Stasi; Tomaso Sanelli as Evan Fletcher; Jenna Warren as Yulia; Gabriel Davenport as Claude Dybing
- **Runtime:** 1h 46m
- **Release (Poland):** 24 November 2023
- **Genres:** Horror, Mystery
- **Budget:** $15 million
- **Box office:** $47 million
- **Trailer:** https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rc8vLvZ0fTE

## Where to watch in Poland

Not streaming, renting or buying in Poland at the last check.

Also available in: AE, AR, AT, AU, BE, BG, BR, CA, CH, CL, CO, CZ, DE, DK, ES, FI, FR, GB, HK, HR, HU, ID, IE, IN, IT, MX, MY, NL, NO, NZ, PH, PT, RS, SE, SG, SI, SK, TH, TR, US. Add `?region=XX` to this URL for another country.

## If you liked this

- *Black Christmas* (1974): The holiday slasher before the holiday slasher, and still the most unsettling of them.
- *My Bloody Valentine* (1981): A mining town, a killer in a gas mask, and a heart in a chocolate box.
- *Dawn of the Dead* (1978), Fi1m 86: Romero’s shoppers keep coming back to the mall dead; Roth’s riot owes it everything. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/dawn-of-the-dead.md)
- *Scream* (1996), Fi1m 86: The template Roth works from: masked killer, small town, jokes about the genre. — [Fi1m page](https://film.one/film/scream.md)
- *Happy Death Day* (2017): A slasher that plays its one gag on a loop and stays cheerful about the body count.

---
© Fi1m Ltd. Written by AI under a human editor; checked against sources before publication. Quote with attribution and a link to the canonical URL. Canonical: https://film.one/film/thanksgiving