I don’t think I’ve ever quite appreciated just how sad Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol really is until watching Ebenezer. There’s something wonderfully contradictory about the story. It’s about Christmas, generosity and redemption, but underneath all that festive cheer is a deeply sad story about loneliness, regret and mortality. Ultimately, it’s a reminder of what really matters in life: being kind to one another, appreciating what we have and being grateful for the people around us, even when we look back on our lives with regrets.
I absolutely love this take on A Christmas Carol. Johnny Depp as Scrooge is unbelievable. He plays him with such ease, completely inhabiting the character without ever seeming to try too hard. He’s extraordinary, and I genuinely think this is Johnny Depp back in amazing form. It’s one of those performances that reminds you just how brilliant an actor he can be. Rupert Grint is also fantastic, and the supporting cast is brilliant throughout.
I love the way Ti West has directed this. It’s closer to the book, which I particularly appreciate, and the use of chapters gives it a lovely old-school feel, almost like being told a traditional ghost story. There’s something about the direction that makes it feel different from your usual Christmas adaptation. It has a darker edge and a wonderfully unsettling atmosphere. The visuals, the production design and the overall look of the film are gorgeous. The pacing is spot on, the story flows beautifully and it never feels too long.
What I particularly love is how completely you’re drawn into Scrooge’s journey. You feel as though you’re with him every step of the way, experiencing his memories, his regrets and his gradual transformation alongside him. You’re not simply watching a miserable old man being taught a lesson; you’re beginning to understand how he became the person he is. It makes his eventual redemption all the more meaningful.
One little detail I thought was particularly clever was Scrooge buying the goose. The Ghost of Christmas Present had always wanted to try the goose but couldn’t. It’s such a lovely little moment, but there’s a bigger idea behind it. You have to seize the present before it becomes the past. I loved that touch because it captures so much of what Dickens’s story is about without needing to spell it out.
I also thought the ending was particularly clever. Scrooge has spent so much of his life being judged because of his past, but what matters is that he changes and chooses to live differently. He can’t change what has happened, but he can decide what happens next. There’s something rather beautiful about that. We all have regrets, and we all have things we’d do differently if we could, but ultimately it’s what we do with the time we have left that matters.
There’s something wonderfully unsettling about this film. It has a darker, more unusual edge than you might expect from a Christmas adaptation, and I absolutely loved that. It’s not afraid to be frightening or make you feel uncomfortable at times. There are moments that make you think, what the actual fuck? But in the best possible way. I can imagine some younger viewers might find certain moments quite scary, but I think that’s part of its charm. After all, Christmas has always had something slightly ghostly about it. It’s a time of remembrance and reflection, as well as celebration.
The film really got me in the feelings. It makes you cry, laugh and smile, sometimes all within the same story. And that’s quite an achievement. There’s an emotional depth to it that stays with you, and I think that’s what makes Dickens’s writing so extraordinary. You can see exactly why this story has endured for so long, and why it continues to resonate with generation after generation.
I honestly think this is one of the best adaptations of A Christmas Carol I’ve seen. It’s as good as the 1939 version, which is an enormous compliment. It’s also comfortably one of my favourite films of the year.
I can already see this becoming one of those films I return to every Christmas. In fact, it’s the ultimate Christmas Eve film. There’s something about this story, with its ghosts, memories and reminders of what really matters, that feels particularly right at Christmas.
Ti West, you are a genius. What a gorgeous, moving and wonderfully dark adaptation. I absolutely loved it. And if there’s one thing this film reminds you of, it’s that we can’t change the past, but we can always choose to make the present count.