Thanksgiving 2023

As the Thanksgiving evening sun dips below the Plymouth horizon, Sheriff Eric Newlon (Patrick Dempsey) arrives at the cozy abode of Mitch Collins (Ty Olsson) and his wife Amanda (Gina Gershon), accompanied by Thomas Wright (Rick Hoffman), the enigmatic owner of RightMart stores, along with his new spouse Kathleen (Karen Cliche) and their precocious daughter Jessica (Nell Verlaque). The atmosphere is lively as Jessica eagerly awaits her departure to the movies with boyfriend Bobby (Jalen Thomas Brooks) and their friends - Evan (Tomaso Sanelli), Gaby (Addison Rae), Scuba (Gabriel Davenport), and Yulia (Jenna Warren). However, Mitch’s festive mood quickly turns sour when he receives an unexpected summons to work, forcing him to forgo his family gathering and tend to the chaos of Black Friday sales.

Meanwhile, Jessica’s excitement is palpable as she joins her friends at the movies. Evan, however, decides to make a pit stop at RightMart, exploiting Jessica’s access to gain entry before the store officially opens. As they slip inside, their friends wait outside, unaware of the impending mayhem. The crowd, fueled by anticipation and frustration, begins to swell in size and temperament, with Lonnie (Mika Amonsen), a rival school student, fanning the flames of discontent. The tension simmers just below the surface as the group watches in horror as the glass doors begin to crack under the pressure.

The moment the doors give way, a frenzied horde of shoppers bursts into the store, trampling security guard Doug (Chris Sandiford) and leaving him lifeless on the floor. The chaos spirals out of control as customers scramble for bargains, their desperation turning violent. Amidst the bedlam, Bobby attempts to intervene, only to suffer a broken wrist as someone’s heel comes crashing down upon it. Amanda, who had arrived to deliver a package to Mitch, is brutally knocked to the ground and her head savagely scraped by a runaway shopping cart, leaving her lifeless.

Mitch, shattered by his wife’s senseless demise, cradles her body in despair as the madness finally subsides. The sound of Sheriff Newlon firing a shot into the ceiling signals the end of the carnage. One year later, RightMart prepares to launch another sale, while Mitch has since abandoned his job and become an ardent crusader against Thomas and the company, fueled by the lack of accountability for the tragedy.

Bobby remains in seclusion, his baseball career derailed by the trauma. Jessica, having moved on with her life, has started dating Ryan (Milo Manheim), a classmate who seems to be filling the void left by Bobby’s absence. It is at this diner that the group reunites, their lives forever changed by the events of that fateful night. As they sit in stunned silence, an unexpected Instagram post appears on their feeds, courtesy of someone calling themselves “John Carver”, a nod to the legendary pilgrim who once roamed these very streets.

As the moon casts its silvery glow over the deserted diner, Lizzie (Amanda Barker), still reeling from her traumatic experience at the Black Friday riot, begins to close up shop. But little does she know, a chilling figure wearing a John Carver mask is lurking in the shadows, waiting to strike. With calculated precision, the killer slashes Lizzie’s palm and submerges her head into a sink full of icy water before pinning her against the frozen freezer door with an eerie sense of restraint. As Lizzie desperately tries to escape by ripping off her own skin, she finds herself unable to cry out for help.

In a desperate bid to flee, Lizzie discovers that Carver has stolen her car keys and attempts to outrun him, only to be met with a gruesome fate as he deliberately slams his vehicle into the dumpster she had hoped to seek refuge in. The metal cover descends, severing Lizzie’s body in half, a stark reminder of the brutality she faces at every turn.

As news of Lizzie’s murder spreads, Newlon begins to investigate, fueled by her involvement in the riot that left Amanda dead. Jessica proves invaluable in the investigation, providing crucial security footage that had mysteriously gone missing from the night of the chaos. The grainy images reveal Lizzie’s presence, but also raise more questions as Mitch, a vocal critic of RightMart, and Ryan, who was seen chatting with Doug just before the riot began, become prime suspects.

Meanwhile, Manny (Tim Dillon), a security guard who fled the scene as the riot erupted, is preparing to embark on a well-deserved vacation when he’s startled by an unusual noise in his home. Despite his tough exterior, Manny finds himself impaled in the stomach with an electric mixer and then decapitated by Carver, who wraps a garrote around his neck like a cold-blooded executioner.

As Lonnie and his girlfriend Amy (Shailyn Griffin), who had been with him during the riot, bask in the warm glow of their trampoline escapades, Carver sneaks up behind them, twisting Lonnie’s neck backward with calculated brutality. As Amy continues to jump and show off her skills, she unwittingly steps into a knife buried beneath the trampoline, causing her foot to be stabbed before she falls victim to a fatal stab wound through her neck and back.

As the tension mounts, Jessica finds herself torn between accompanying Evan and Gaby to their high school alma mater and the unfolding drama outside, where Newlon and his officers are engaged in a tense standoff with Carver. Meanwhile, Yulia’s father makes a desperate attempt to spirit her away to Florida under the watchful eye of a security detail, but Carver proves one step ahead, ruthlessly dispatching the guard and Yulia’s father before setting his sights on their vulnerable daughter. Jessica and Scuba are left reeling as they bear witness to Yulia’s brutal murder via a chilling video feed, prompting them to rush to her aid, only to arrive too late to prevent the senseless slaughter.

As Carver’s malevolent presence looms large, the authorities concoct a daring plan to lure him out of hiding during the Thanksgiving parade. Jessica and her family, along with Scuba, are unwittingly drawn into the trap, forced to participate in the festive event despite the very real danger that Carver poses to them. The killer, clad in a grotesque clown costume, emerges from the shadows to claim another victim, this time a turkey mascot, before unleashing smoke bombs into the panicked crowd. As chaos erupts and people scramble for safety, Carver seizes the opportunity to abduct Scuba and the Wright family.

In a grim echo of the horrors that have unfolded thus far, Kathleen finds herself trapped in Carver’s cellar, where she is subjected to a ghastly “preparation” akin to a twisted turkey roasting ritual. Miraculously, she manages to break free from her bonds, only to be recaptured and brutally cooked alive in an oven. Carver presents her roasted corpse to a horrified Thomas, accompanied by Jessica, Scuba, Evan, and Gaby. The killer then subjects Evan to a gruesome on-camera assassination, prompting Jessica to use the ring she procured from a local drug dealer to cut herself free. With newfound determination, she passes the ring to Scuba, empowering him to take action against Carver.

As Jessica’s frantic search through the woods finally yields a breakthrough, she stumbles upon a decrepit parade warehouse, only to find herself face-to-face with a bewildering scene: Newlon lies motionless on the ground, while Bobby seemingly wanders around the area, sending her mind into a spin. The duo’s futile attempt to apprehend their quarry is swiftly foiled as Bobby vanishes into thin air, leaving them stunned and disoriented. Just as they’re trying to regroup, the authorities arrive, bearing news that Jessica’s loved ones are safe and sound.

As Newlon recovers from his ordeal, he finds himself alone with Jessica once more. In a startling revelation, she discovers telltale brambles on his shoes, eerily reminiscent of the underbrush she navigated through the woods mere moments before. This epiphany shatters her perception, as she comes to realize that Newlon is, in fact, the authentic John Carver - a man driven by an insatiable thirst for vengeance fueled by his illicit affair with Amanda, who was carrying his child at the time of her tragic demise.

Newlon’s confession is met with Jessica’s cold calculation, as she nonchalantly reveals that she has been live-streaming his every word. This bombshell prompts Newlon to launch a desperate bid to capture her, but not before Bobby returns to the scene, intent on saving Jessica from the clutches of this malevolent figure.

As they attempt to make their escape in Bobby’s truck, however, Newlon has already taken steps to ensure their departure is foiled. Ensnared by a cleverly deployed tow strap, the vehicle remains stationary, leaving them vulnerable and helpless. Undeterred, Jessica seizes an opportunity presented by a nearby parade float, strategically inflating it to create a massive explosion that engulfs Newlon in flames.

In the aftermath of this cataclysmic event, Jessica is reunited with her companions, while the authorities are left convinced that Newlon has met his demise, his remains reduced to nothing more than ash. Yet, as she drifts off to sleep in Ryan’s arms, a haunting nightmare besets her - one in which a flaming Newlon emerges from the shadows, axe at the ready, intent on exacting a gruesome revenge upon its unsuspecting victim.