Ebenezer
Director – Ti West – 2026 – US – Cert. 12a – 116m
***** the horror-y bits
**** the rest
Greedy and ruthless financial man Ebenezer Scrooge is shown the error of his ways by three ghosts over the course of one Christmas Eve night – out in UK cinemas on Friday, November 13th
With a text as well known and filmed as many times as Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol, it’s probably pointless to rehash the plot, but, in brief, in its present version with current cast members inserted: Ebenezer Scrooge (Johnny Depp) of the financial firm Scrooge & Marley is obsessed with financial propriety to the exclusion of all else – employees, family, and Christmas itself. He loses his longstanding business partner Jacob Marley (a convincing Ian Mckellan) when the latter unexpectedly drops dead one Christmas eve. Even so, Scrooge expects his honest, loyal, hardworking and thorough clerk Bob Cratchit (Rupert Grint) to work as normal on Christmas Day. Cratchit’s son Tiny Tim (Freddie Lee-Gray) is a cheerful soul despite having one leg in a brace and a short life expectancy. Nor will he visit his nephew Fred (Sam Claflin) for Christmas dinner, despite an invitation to do so every year.… Read the rest