The film industry cottoned on to the strong visual potential of Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella “A Christmas Carol” early on in its history. A 1901 British screen version of the classic conversion story – titled “Scrooge, or, Marley’s Ghost” – for instance, survives in part.
No one can say precisely how many adaptations have followed. IMDb lists well over 200 variant takes on the tale.
Now it’s the turn of director Ti West. Given his background as a crafter of fright fests, it’s perhaps not a surprise that, while mostly faithful to the original text, “Ebenezer” (Paramount), his atmospheric visit to the Victorian London Dickens immortalized, places gothic ingredients – from phantoms to restless cadavers – front and center.
In fact, as scripted by Nathaniel Halpern, this is essentially an evocative horror movie with a strong moral core. So, although objectionable elements are kept to a minimum in the production, this is not a suitable holiday outing for the whole family. Tykes should be left at home to hang up their stockings.
Johnny Depp revels in his role as the coldhearted miser of the title, sarcastically rebuffing the collectors of charitable donations, oppressing his long-suffering clerk, Bob Cratchit (Rupert Grint), and throwing cold water on the good intentions of his estranged nephew, Fred (Sam Claflin). But then, of course, comes his character’s unnerving encounter with the supernatural.
Scrooge is visited first by the spectre of his long-deceased, equally callous business partner, Jacob Marley (Ian McKellen), then by the Ghosts of Christmas Past (Andrea Riseborough) and Present (Tramell Tillman) as well as by the mute Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
The respective tasks of the latter trio are to show the old curmudgeon scenes from his own history, the current experiences of those around him – to which he has previously been wholly indifferent – and the miserable end that awaits him if he fails to mend his ways. To say that he ultimately does so is, after the elapse of more than 180 years, no spoiler.
Mature viewers of faith will welcome notable sequences in which an explicitly religious outlook on the holiday is artfully advanced. These include a church service attended by Cratchit and his disabled son, Tiny Tim (Freddie Lee-Grey), and a moving rendition of the hymn “Silent Night.”
Scrooge’s third-act redemption, moreover, is marked by more humble penitence than is sometimes portrayed. A sense of remorse appropriate to his past wrongdoing thus intervenes between the terrors of Christmas Eve and the joyful feasting of the following evening.
A yuletide treat for all but the easily frightened, “Ebenezer” ranks as a fresh and ethically insightful iteration of an oft-told yarn.
The film contains strong occult content, gruesome sights, a scene of urination, a few mild oaths and a single crass term. The OSV News classification is A-II – adults and adolescents. The Motion Picture Association rating is PG-13 – parents strongly cautioned. Some material may be inappropriate for children under 13.
