Violent Night

"You better watch out."

2022 1h 52m EN

👍

7.2

SOLID

🍅

74%

FRESH

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

6.7

IMDB

★7.2TMDB · 2,660🍅74%Rotten Tomatoes●55Metacritic★6.7IMDB · 122,929

ActionComedyFantasy

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

When a team of mercenaries breaks into a wealthy family compound on Christmas Eve, taking everyone inside hostage, the team isn’t prepared for a surprise combatant: Santa Claus is on the grounds, and he’s about to show why this Nick is no saint.

“You better watch out.”

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Where to watch · US

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Cast

David Harbour
Santa
John Leguizamo
Scrooge
Beverly D'Angelo
Gertrude
Alex Hassell
Jason
Alexis Louder
Linda
Edi Patterson
Alva
Cam Gigandet
Morgan Steel
Leah Brady
Trudy

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Tommy Wirkola
Writers: Pat Casey, Josh Miller
Languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish
Countries: Canada, United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

MONEY

Did you know

Made its money back 3.8× over at the box office.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 4 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

WORLD

Did you know

International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

CINEMA

Did you know

Part of the "Violent Night Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Tommy Wirkola, shot by Matthew Weston. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Dominic Lewis. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Jim Page shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Tommy Wirkola directs. Matthew Weston behind the camera. Dominic Lewis scores. Jim Page cuts. Made its budget back several times over at the box office. Produced in Canada, United States of America. Dialogue in English, Portuguese, Spanish.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Made its money back 3.8× over at the box office.
2Released 4 years ago.
3Dialogue crosses 3 languages: English, Portuguese, Spanish.
4International production across 2 countries: Canada, United States of America.
5Part of the "Violent Night Collection" — so the characters or world continue elsewhere.
6Directed by Tommy Wirkola, shot by Matthew Weston. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
7Original score by Dominic Lewis. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
8Editor Jim Page shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
9David Harbour and John Leguizamo and Beverly D'Angelo carry the top of the cast.
10Marketing tagline: "You better watch out.".
11IMDB entry: tt12003946 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
12Classified under 10 themes, including "holiday", "santa claus", "mercenary", "saving christmas".
13Released under 12 different titles around the world.

The technical file

Cinematography: Matthew Weston
Original score: Dominic Lewis
Editing: Jim Page
Production design: Roger Fires
Costume design: Laura DeLuca
Makeup / hair: Stacey Mendoza
VFX supervisor: Adam Wagner
Sound: Patrick Haskill
Stunt coordinator: Dan Skene
Runtime: 112 min · 1h 52m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $20,000,000
Box office: $75,734,910
Return: 379% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): R
IMDB: Violent Night (2022)
Rotten Tomatoes: 74% 🍅 Fresh
Metacritic: 55/100
IMDB rating: 6.7/10 · 122,929 votes
MPAA: R

Awards

1 win & 4 nominations total

Part of

Violent Night Collection

Also by

Tommy Wirkola

Stills · wallpapers

Selected frames

Full-resolution frames — open one to save it as a wallpaper.

Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

Watch the pieces

Community reviews

What people are saying

Manuel São Bento2022-11-30
★ 8/10
FULL SPOILER-FREE REVIEW @ https://www.msbreviews.com/movie-reviews/violent-night-spoiler-free-review "Violent Night is one of the biggest surprises of the year, instantly becoming a contemporary Christmas classic! David Harbour expertly embodies a shockingly brutal, savage version of Santa Claus that somehow still delivers lovely messages. Fighting sequences feature truly violent practical stunts, taking advantage of the R rating to provide unmeasurable amounts of gore. Creative use of Christmas songs will leave audiences crying with laughter. A brilliant homage to the seasonal genre classics that should be seen in a packed theater!" Rating: A-
CinemaSerf2022-12-03
★ 7/10
"Santa" (David Harbour) is getting a bit disillusioned with the whole Christmas thing. He is tired of delivering gifts to modern day children who live in an unappreciative, throw-away, culture and so has taken to the bottle rather. Leaving Bristol one night, he rather drunkenly crash-lands thousands of miles away at the compound of the wealthy and therefore entirely dysfunctional "LIghtstone" family. Now here we have group of people ruled over by matriarch "Gertrude" (Beverly D'Angelo - who just reminded me of Goldie Hawn) who are dealing with their own issues of separation, avarice, precociousness and, yes, I too was already thinking - same old, same old... Wait, though, it seems that this family are the target of some seriously nasty robbers who are after the $300 million hidden in an impenetrable vault in the cellar. "Santa", unwittingly, becomes embroiled in these shenanigans and after being initially desperate to get out of the place, he spots the terrified young "Trudy" (Leah Brady) and, well, someone's goose is about to be cooked! It can't resist wallowing a bit in sentiment at times, and the familial discord stuff is all very old hat, but when the action scenes kick in we are offered a sort of "Home Alone" (1990) meets "Thor" (2011) experience peppered with some genuinely laugh-out-loud moments as, of course, the plot follows it's own, very obvious course. It's violent and gory, but the fact that much of that emanates from this epitome of kindness and avuncularity makes this just a bit different - and quite entertaining - with Harbour carrying it off quite engagingly. It is a bit long, and there are times when you want it to pedal faster, but it's a fun watch that is certainly not for the youngsters!
The Movie Mob2022-12-09
★ 7/10
Violent Night is a savage Christmas action flick with Die Hard vibes and an awesome hardcore Santa hero! Violent Night was precisely what I expected and everything I hoped for - ridiculously delightful dumb fun filled with brutal action and violence! A new Christmas classic! This is a movie best seen with friends that can laugh and recoil at the gruesome kills and outrageous dialogue. Violent Night knows exactly how cheesy it is and embraces all the tropes in a way that is fun and entertaining without being cliche. It adds new twists to classic Santa lore and leaves me wanting to know more with hopes for a prequel! As with any 87North film, the fight sequences are top-notch. This movie isn’t for everyone, but fans of Bullet Train or Nobody will add Violent Night to their yearly holiday film watchlist.