Thanksgiving

Patrick Dempsey trades his scrubs for genuine dread in this gleefully twisted slasher that asks: what if Thanksgiving had a final girl—and a killer with a manifesto? Thanksgiving channels the anarchic energy of Scream meets the baroque brutality of Terrifier, weaponizing American holiday nostalgia into something genuinely unsettling. The premise alone—a masked killer stalking Plymouth, Massachusetts with a turkey-carving agenda—is audacious enough to work, but the film commits fully to its premise with inventive kills and a mystery that actually unfolds rather than spins its wheels.

What elevates this beyond typical slasher fare is the craft underneath: crisp editing, a pace that never lets you exhale, and cinematography that makes small-town Americana look like a hunting ground. Dempsey's weathered presence anchors the ensemble, while the supporting cast leans into the chaos without winking at the camera. This isn't Scream's self-aware irony or Terrifier's nihilism—it's something sharper: a horror film that actually believes in its twisted logic.

If you've been craving a slasher with teeth—one that respects the genre's rules while breaking them with purpose—this is your night. Thanksgiving doesn't just kill time; it uses it, building dread through specificity and commitment. You'll be debating the killer's twisted ideology and rewatching the kills for weeks.