Ebenezer premieres November 13 in theaters.
By Andrew Warren
A Christmas Carol was published by Charles Dickens in 1843, and it has not been out of circulation since. There are so many adaptations that Wikipedia keeps them on a separate page. Fifteen straightforward film versions, sixteen derivative ones, fifty or so television adaptations and homages, another fifty cartoons, and one porno. Everyone knows this story. Most people have seen some version of it, likely not the porno. So, is there any reason to see Ebenezer?
The film’s plot closely follows the original novella. Ebenezer Scrooge is a greedy businessman who hates Christmas, charity, and the general idea of kindness. On Christmas Eve, he is visited by the ghost of his dead partner, Jacob Marley, who appears weighed down by heavy chains and tells Scrooge the same fate is waiting for him. Three ghosts will give him one last chance. The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come take Scrooge through time, showing him where he came from, where he is now, and what lies ahead for him and for the people around him.
This new version, Ebenezer, is directed by Ti West and stars Johnny Depp. It is an interesting move for West, who has avoided pre-existing IP for nearly his entire career and who works primarily in horror. This is his first film since finishing the X–Pearl–MaXXXine trilogy. I assumed going in that it would lean horror, but it plays more like a dark gothic fairy tale. It is more frightening than most versions without ever quite becoming a horror film.
This is Depp’s first major role since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald, and it is a fitting one: a rich, unpopular man who has a change of conscience and decides to do some good. It is hard not to assume he took the part because he hopes to gain the perception that this arc maps onto his own life, given the infamous trial and allegations with Amber Heard. He is good here, and he avoids the problems I had with a lot of his later Tim Burton collaborations. The performance is cartoony, but the emotional beats still land. I was moved where I was supposed to be. West and Depp are aligned tonally. This is a heightened movie and everyone is on the same page about that.
The supporting cast is strong, and I want to single out Tramell Tillman from Severance. He plays the Ghost of Christmas Present and brings real power to it, conveying strength and menace at the same time. He was one of the best things in the eighth Mission: Impossible, he is one of the best things in Severance, and I cannot wait to see him do more.
The craft is all there. The score is good, the ghost designs are genuinely unsettling, and the horror elements work. But the film is extremely faithful to the source, with no surprises and nothing reconsidered. It is the same story hitting the same beats, now with modern actors.
So, should you see Ebenezer? It is hard to say you have to. It is not an evolution of the story or a particularly revelatory adaptation. It is a very well-made version of something you have seen before. You do not need to see it, but if you do, you won’t be saying Humbug.
I give Ebenezer a B.
