What’s going on everyone I’m World War Joe here to talk to you about one of the best movies of the year, Thanksgiving.  It is a movie about love, family, and togetherness, and about overcoming trauma while trying to survive an ax-swinging murder. Let’s get into it!

Thanksgiving does everything right, but it was weird seeing this movie in 2023. The women were all written well. The men were all written well. The fathers were all written well. No man was emasculated. The killer is cool. The deaths are creative and comedy is golden. There is a massive number of characters in this movie and they all have a purpose.

You have Jessica the main character. Her boyfriend Bobby, her friends Gabby, Evan, Scuba, Yalia, her ex-Ryan. Ryan’s roommate Scott. Jessica’s Father Thomas. Her stepmom Kathleen.  Mitch and his wife Amanda. The Sheriff Eric. The new Deputy Bret. Lizzie who works at the local diner. Lonnie a football player on an opposing high school and many many many more and they all serve a purpose. They all flesh out this world. There were no messages in this movie. No cringe moments. Eli Roth does not fuck around.

We start off with one of the best openings you’ll ever see. A really quick info dump that actually sounds like human beings having a conversation and we get to know our massive cast better. 

Mitch complains that Thomas is making him work on Thanksgiving.

People in town take pictures with Bobby because he’s a pitching phenom in high school.

Bobby comforts Jessica by saying Kathleen will never replace her dead mother.

Just simple conversation and it tells you everything you need to know, unlike Inception where Arthur’s character was just there to explain everything to the audience.

After a Thanksgiving feast, Jessica and Bobby get a ride with their friends to the local RightMart where a massive foaming at the mouth crowd awaiting the giant savings inside, including deals on waffle makers.

Evan and Scuba talk about how they fought with Lonnie after a football game and the opposing team. As Bobby is taking pictures with fans, Jessica runs into Ryan, her ex, and he invites her to a party. Bobby intervenes and he and Ryan exchange a glance. Since Jessica’s father owns the store, she’s able to get her and her friends into the store through a back room.

The group start shopping before the crowd. Apon seeing this, Lonnie grabs a megaphone and announces the store is open and the crowd charges the gate. They break down the doors crushing a man to death. Amanda, who came to bring her husband leftovers is killed by a shopping cart driven by Lizzie.

Bobby also falls to the ground and his arm is broke, killing his baseball career. The night ends with 3 people dying and then we fast-forward one year later. A news report explains that the RightMart is again having its massive Thanksgiving sales. We see an enraged Mitch saying that nobody has been arrested for the death of his wife and the cameras that night was mysteriously not working. The report then talks about Bobby and how he hasn’t been seen since that night.

The rest of the movie has the characters from that night being systematically targeted and killed and their bodies displayed. Jessica and her friends are continuously tagged in pictures and videos about that night and of a dinner table with place cards with their names on it. The police still have nobody in custody for the deaths at the RightMart from a year ago and are still interviewing people to piece together the whole story of that night.

The rest of the movie the group trying to figure out who is doing the murders. There are a lot of red herrings and so many people are a suspect. And when we finally get to the reveal and twist, its fantastic. The killer has a great motivation, the breadcrumbs are all there and when its finally over, it all makes sense. That’s what this movie does perfectly, the tiniest details matter.

Thanksgiving should be nominated for Best Original Screenplay. With only an hour and a half of screentime, this movie doesn’t waste a single second. Every line makes sense, every character’s motivation is perfect. Eli Roth and Jeff Rendell have made something truly iconic and I look forward to their next product.

Thanksgiving is one of the best movies of the year. And in terms of Horror movies, leaps and bounds over Five Nights at Freddy’s.

However, I don’t see this movie making much a profit for the simple fact that not a lot of people know it exists. They must’ve spent nothing on marketing. I don’t see this movie being pushed on my Facebook, Instagram or other socials. I don’t see endless commercials of this on YouTube. And yes, a movie can make a big profit with word of mouth, the Sound of Freedom did it, but this movie doesn’t have the same gravitas. Also, Thanksgiving will probably be on Peacock in a month or two so there’s really no rush to go see it in theaters.

That being said. This movie is Lightening in a Bottle. It’s iconic. It does all the right things. 10/10, not even a second thought. Let me know what you guys think about it.

World War Joe