Plot
In Greenwich, Connecticut, Jason Lightstone and his estranged wife Linda take their daughter Gertrude ("Trudy") to his mother Gertrude's mansion for a Christmas gathering. Other family members at the gathering are Jason's sister Alva, her boyfriend Morgan Steel, and her son Bertrude ("Bert"). Jason and Linda overhear Trudy's Christmas wish for family unity via an old walkie-talkie Jason claims lets her talk to Santa. Meanwhile, a drunk Santa Claus arrives at the estate, having become so fed up with centuries of enabling mankind’s materialism, greed, and avarice that he intends to retire after finishing this year's deliveries. However, a group of mercenaries with holiday-themed codenames, led by "Mr. Scrooge", raid the house and take the family hostage.
Startled by one of the mercenaries, "Tinsel", firing his weapon, Santa's reindeer are frightened off the roof, pulling Tinsel out of a window by a string of Christmas lights and impaling him on an icicle. Stranded, Santa resolves to rescue Trudy and her family from Scrooge, who is after $300 million in cash hidden in a vault in the mansion. After killing "Frosty", Santa takes his radio and finds Trudy's channel, also discovering that Scrooge and his henchmen are on his naughty list. When Scrooge discovers that Trudy has been talking to Santa on her walkie-talkie, Jason denies Santa's existence, and a distraught Trudy runs past the kidnappers and successfully hides in the attic. Santa reassures her over the radio, revealing to her his ancient Viking past as "Nicomund the Red".
Santa is wounded and captured by Scrooge, who reveals his hatred for Christmas. Recognizing their real identities, Santa convinces "Gingerbread" and "Candy Cane" of his authenticity and escapes magically, although his magic sack of gifts is burned. Gertrude's private extraction squad, led by Commander Thorp, arrives and kills Morgan, revealing their allegiance to Scrooge. Discovering the vault to be empty, Scrooge threatens to kill Linda. Jason admits he stole the money, hid it in an outdoor nativity scene, and planned to escape Gertrude's influence with Linda and Trudy. Gertrude forgives him, revealing his act of deceit as a Lightstone family rite of passage and naming him her heir.
Retreating to a shed, Santa finds a sledgehammer and kills numerous extraction squad members. Trudy sets up Home Alone -inspired booby traps, leading to Gingerbread's death. Santa kills Candy Cane before she can shoot Trudy. Alva, Linda, and Bert thwart Scrooge's order to kill hostages by overpowering and killing "Krampus," forcing Scrooge and Thorp to escape into the woods with Gertrude and the money. They are pursued by Santa, who kills "Peppermint" during the chase. Linda kills "Sugarplum" and "Jingle", and Trudy witnesses her parents' reunion.
Santa and Scrooge fight in an abandoned cabin; as they grapple, a badly wounded Santa magically flies up the chimney; mangling Scrooge's body and killing him. Thorp shoots Santa but is killed by a vindictive Gertrude. Despite Jason burning some of the cash for warmth, Santa succumbs to his gunshot wounds. Trudy rallies her family to affirm their belief in Santa, fully reviving him. Confused by the magic, but renewed in faith, Santa receives his returning reindeer, a note from Mrs. Claus, a new gift sack, and the return of his long-lost Viking war hammer. He bids Trudy farewell and continues his gift deliveries.
In a mid-credits scene, Bert vlogs next to Thorp's corpse, telling his viewers that Santa is real and warning them to behave during Christmas.
Reception
Box office
Violent Night grossed $50.1 million in the United States and Canada, and $26.5 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $76.6 million. [4] [5]
In the United States and Canada, the film was projected to gross around $10 million from 3,682 theaters in its opening weekend. [3] it made $4.9 million on its first day, including $1.1 million from Thursday night previews, and went on to debut to $13.5 million, finishing second behind holdover Black Panther: Wakanda Forever . [16] [17] The film fell 37% in its second weekend to $8.7 million, remaining in second. [18]
Critical response
On the review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 73% based on 208 reviews with an average rating of 6.5/10. The website's critics consensus reads "Violent Night isn't as wildly entertaining as its concept might suggest, but for those seeking harder-edged holiday fare, it may be a ho-ho-whole lot of fun." [19] Metacritic, which uses a weighted average, assigned the film a score of 55 out of 100, based on 37 critics, indicating "mixed or average reviews". [20] Opening weekend audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B+" on an A+ to F scale, while those at PostTrak gave it an overall positive score of 76%. [17]
MovieWeb wrote, "The first reviews... heap praise on David Harbour's savage Santa Claus." [21] Syfy wrote that "critics hail what might be a new holiday classic that more than earns its R-rating by turning every conceivable Christmas item into a deadly weapon" and that Harbour "steals the show". [22] Total Film wrote that reviews were mixed, "Some critics are calling Tommy Wirkola's movie a fun riff on the festive genre, while others are critical of its plot and length." [23] Box Office Mojo said, "Critics mostly like it." [24]
Sequel
In November 2022, Harbour mentioned discussions of Mrs. Claus appearing in a potential sequel during production of the first film, and expressed interest in seeing Charlize Theron in the role. [25] In December of the same year, Wirkola confirmed that there have been ongoing discussions between him and the writers, with potential for Mrs. Claus, the North Pole, and the elves factoring into the story. The filmmaker stated that the realization of a follow-up movie depended on the success of the first film. [26] Later that month, producer Kelly McCormick confirmed that all creatives involved intended to make a sequel with work on the project commencing in "the next few weeks". [27] In January 2023, it was confirmed that a sequel is already in development. [28]
In March 2024, Harbour said in an interview that production could start in early 2025 if "the time would be found in everyone's schedule". [29] In December 2024, Harbour claimed that writing was already underway. [30] Later in the same month, it was confirmed that Pat Casey and Josh Miller, the writers of the first film had written a script and were polishing it. Miller expressed that the sequel would have "western influence" and that Miracle on 34th Street would act as a big influence for the film. [31] In June 2025, it was reported that Universal had set a release date for Violent Night 2 for December 4, 2026. [32] In August of that year, it was reported Kristen Bell and Daniela Melchior had been cast in the sequel with Tommy Wirkola set to return as director. [33] One month later, Jared Harris and Joe Pantoliano joined the cast. [34]
