EBENEZER: A CHRISTMAS CAROL (2026)
Directed by: Ti West
Starring: Johnny Depp, Andrea Riseborough
Genres: Gothic • Thriller • Supernatural Drama
Prepare for the most unnerving Christmas haunting yet.
Overview
From acclaimed filmmaker Ti West — the modern master of slow-burn terror (The House of the Devil, X, Pearl) — comes a bold, nightmarish reimagining of Charles Dickens’ classic tale.
This is not the cozy fireside story you remember.
This is a descent.
Blending Victorian horror with psychological fragmentation, EBENEZER: A Christmas Carol transforms a tale of redemption into a brooding, supernatural thriller pulsing with dread, anguish, and spectral beauty.
Synopsis
Set against the fog-choked, gaslamp-lit streets of 19th-century London, the film follows Ebenezer Scrooge (Johnny Depp), a ruthless and emotionally desolate financier whose soul has withered under decades of greed and grief. Depp delivers one of his most chilling performances — portraying a man haunted not only by the world around him, but by the horrors of his own conscience.
When three enigmatic spirits tear open the barriers of time, Scrooge is thrust into a series of visions that blur the line between memory and nightmare:
The tortured echoes of his youth
The fragile warmth of the life he abandoned
The horrific destiny awaiting him if he refuses to change
Each visitation becomes increasingly surreal, harrowing, and intimate — a psychological reckoning orchestrated with Ti West’s signature atmospheric tension.
Andrea Riseborough co-stars as Belle, Scrooge’s long-lost love. She appears not simply as a memory, but as a haunting emotional presence — the embodiment of everything Scrooge forfeited, and the faint, flickering light he still has left to reclaim.
Tone & Aesthetic
EBENEZER: A Christmas Carol (2026) drenches the familiar narrative in:
Decaying Victorian opulence
Flickering candlelit shadows
A creeping, insidious sense of dread
Stark contrasts of human sorrow and spectral terror
This is a world where every whisper echoes, every shadow hides a truth, and every ghost carries the weight of a soul in torment.
Themes
Redemption as horror: The cost of change is steep… and terrifying.
Psychological haunting: The greatest demons are the ones we create ourselves.
Love as agony and salvation: Belle’s presence becomes Scrooge’s wound and his hope.
Spiritual resurrection: Even the darkest hearts contain one spark of light — if they dare confront the darkness that surrounds it.
Final Impression
EBENEZER: A Christmas Carol (2026) is a haunting, visually stunning reinvention of a cherished story — one that plunges viewers into terror, sorrow, and ultimately, transcendence. With visceral direction from Ti West and a mesmerizing performance by Johnny Depp, this adaptation transforms Christmas redemption into a chilling, unforgettable gothic odyssey.