Untitled film review column: A Violent Night

Lily Stone

She/Her

Columnist

12/7/22

“A Violent Night” (rated R) was released on December 2nd of this year and is definitely a movie to add to your list of Holiday movies. This movie is perfect when you’re feeling a Christmas movie with gore and funny moments along with a heartfelt Christmas tale. 

The movie follows mercenaries who take over a family compound and hold the hostages for 3 billion dollars. A satirical Kris Kringle comes in and shows another side of the holiday figure. Bringing up the gruesome past of Kris Kringle and showing the heartwarming feeling of Christmas. Kris Kringle works alongside Trudy, the daughter of one of the main characters, to help save them and save Christmas. With references to movies like Die Hard and Home Alone along with the typical Christmas phrases, this movie is perfect to mix up the Christmas classics. 

David Harbour from Stranger Things portrayed this kick-ass Kris Kringle brilliantly along with familiar faces like John Leguizamo (Ice Age, Super Mario Bros.) and Beverly D’Angelo (National Lampoon’s Christmas Vacation). Josh Miller and Patrick Casey, the screenwriters for the live-action “Sonic the Hedgehog” movies, showed their talented work again in this movie. The director Tommy Wirkola did an excellent job with “What Happened to Monday” (2017) and brought Miller and Casey’s work to life perfectly. 

Going into this movie I was excited to see Harbour as Kris Kringle but was not sure how I would feel about the movie. After seeing the movie I’m glad to say that I will definitely watch it again. I love the classic Christmas movies but this movie is the perfect amount of Christmas and action that keeps you entertained throughout the movie and gives a nice break from the typical Hallmark Christmas movies without losing the Christmas feeling.