Movies about Christmas long ago turned into an independent genre. They come out regularly and sometimes several pieces a year, so that everyone can choose something to their own taste. Considering that Christmas happens every year, its constant display in movies has long had time to get tired. But film affairs do not stop, regularly trying to find a non-standard approach. “Cruel Night” is another such attempt. We tell in the review below how it turned out.

Violent Night

Genre Christmas action movie
Director Tommy Wirkola
In roles David Harbour, John Leguizamo, Cam Gigandet, Alex Hessel, Alexis Lauder, Leah Brady
Premiere cinemas
Release year 2022
Site IMDb

The main character of the film is Santa Claus (David Harbor). However, he does not look like a traditional good character at all. The local Santa is a brutal alcoholic and brawler who has long been disillusioned with Christmas. However, he does have his own moral code. It is he who allows Santa to come to the aid of the girl Trudy (Leah Brady) and her family, who were held hostage by criminals who demand 300 million dollars. And the main character is not going to have a ceremony with “naughty children”.

The idea of ​​making Santa Claus a negative character is far from new. The same “Bad Santa” was released in 2003, and they tried to turn Santa Claus into a villain back in “Futurama”. The image itself is so drawn out that it is almost impossible to add something new to it.

Therefore, “Cruel Night” does not try to go too far from the canons of Christmas in this regard. The local Santa is quite “real”, with reindeer, a wagon and a list of good-naughty children. Only he is still an ancient Viking warrior who previously participated in the fiercest battles. And this is reflected in his thugs.

The film is rated R, so be prepared that this is far from a children’s story. Violence and brutality are not shy to show here in all the details. And the blood is still splashing in all directions. Taking into account the Christmas decorations, which are present in almost every frame, a rather interesting contrast is obtained.

The authors of “Cruel Night” turned the theme of Christmas into a weapon for the main character. Christmas decorations are used to punish criminals. And sometimes it turns out creatively, and sometimes it is as “head-on” as possible with an additional share of cruelty. There was a nod to “Home Alone”, which turned out to be quite bloody in “Cruel Night”.

The general level of violence in some places is surprising and even repulsive. Especially considering that the main idea of ​​the film is not to savor the murders that Santa Claus commits. The authors do not forget to promote the theme of the Christmas miracle and family unity. Only with this it turns out to be very awkward.

That is, yes, in the end, Santa himself will believe in a miracle, as will other characters. This is not even particularly a spoiler, since the very essence of Christmas movies is waiting for such a resolution. Perhaps it would be even better if the authors moved away from the classic ending.

But the main problem is not even that. When Santa isn’t killing all the villains, the writers try to build expressive dialogue and scripted character development. And in this regard, there is practically nothing in “Cruel Night” but cringe. When in the first fifteen minutes of the film’s running time, the film releases one of the worst attempts in cinema to make a joke about the terrorist attack on September 11, that says a lot.

In this regard, you don’t want to cling to the character of David Harbour. The actor squeezes the most out of his image and always looks very nice in the frame. Even when he does not very pleasant things. You care about the local Santa from the very first scene, the character does not let go of you until the very end.

But it won’t work about other heroes. That the hostages and the criminals turned out to be overly caricatured. The positive characters here are disgustingly disgusting, the negative ones are stereotypical to the point of boredom. All of them are trying to be united by the theme of Christmas, at the same time demonstrating how different emotions this holiday can evoke in different people.

As a result, it turns out that the film itself does not know what it wants to be on an ideological level. He is best able to demonstrate brutal and moderately creative murders in the entourage of Christmas. But it seems that “Cruel Night” is not about them at all, but primarily about Santa and a little girl, who together need to believe in Christmas miracles again.

Such an approach is somewhat confusing. After watching it, it is difficult to understand what exactly the film was made for. It lacks integrity and focus on central themes. “Cruel Night” tries to be two very different works at once – but, as is often the case in such situations, the film fails to become at least one decent one.

And the producers already have plans to continue and perhaps turn the movie into their own franchise. At what rate will be made on the “brutal” image of the classic attributes of Christmas. The idea seems to be attractive, but after its execution in “Cruel Night”, it raises considerable doubts.

Pros:
David Harbour’s acting, colorful taste of Christmas-themed murders, non-standard approach to the image of Santa Claus

Cons:
faded characters, a weak script, the film’s vagueness in its ideas, pretentious and boring main idea

Conclusion:
“Cruel Night” is far from the best movie to get in the Christmas spirit. And the thing is not even about constant brutal murders, there are no problems with them. It’s just that in another movie it turned out to be so idealess that it won’t have a special effect on the audience. Unless it makes you want to see more worthy works about Christmas