Starring David Harbour, Alex Hassell, Alexis Louder, Leah Brady, Beverly D’Angelo, Edu Patterson, Cam Gigandet, John Leguizamo and Alexander Elliot

Directed by Tommy Wirkola

Universal, in cinemas now

‘Twas the night before Christmas and all through the house, highly trained mercenaries were stirring. Welcome to Violent Night.

The ‘Santa but a violent asshole’ sub-genre isn’t exactly underserved right now but Violent Night has three massive advantages that make it worth your time. The first is behind the camera, where writers Patrick Casey and Worm Miller (best known for the Sonic movies) and director Tommy Wirkola know exactly what movie they’re making. The action is grounded and calm until it very much is not, the characters have surprising depth and heart and far more is going on here than first appears. Wirkola is responsible for the Dead Snow movies, What Happened to Monday? and Hansel & Gretel: Witch Hunters and has got this kind of gritty, low impact and bloody knuckled, action movie rhythm absolutely locked in now. The second hour especially is something pretty special, as the action, character and themes all collide in a movie that’s one part It’s A Wonderful Life and one part Die Hard. All of them. At once.

The second big plus the movie has going is the cast. The action takes place around the Lightstone family Christmas dinner, a nightmarish collision of old money and new wounds. Alex Hassell is great as Jason Lightstone, the deeply likable Jimmy Stewart-esque lead. Estranged from his wife Linda, played by the excellent Alexis Louder (the best part, by a mile, of last year’s uneven but fun CopShop) and devoted to his daughter Trudy (Leah Brady), he’s the one light in the nightmarish hellscape of his family. A family that includes Beverly D’Angelo stealing the show as the terrifying matriarch when it isn’t being pocketed by Edi Patterson as her ambitious daughter Alva. Alva is convinced Jason is the favourite and is frantically manoeuvring her meathead new husband, action state Morgan Steele (Cam Gigandet having all of the fun) into the top spot.

It’s a horror show, a terrible, terrible party for a family Jason wants no part of. And then Scrooge appears.

John Leguizamo is one of those actors who always gets it. Here he’s given the movie’s subtlest comedy (as well as an axe fight with Santa) and he viscerally understand what’s required. Scrooge, the codename for arch thief Jimmy Martinez, is cool, focused and hates Christmas. But just as he’s thwarted by Santa, he’s also trapped inside the story he’s built for the heist. He’s the guy who hates Christmas, running a heist at Christmas. It’s like Jacob Marley setting up shop selling chains and thinking he was ‘disrupting the system.’ Special note too of Leah Brady who is flat out great as Trudy, bringing a sincerity to the role that’s never without agency. Trudy’s a good kid, honest, funny, tough and in need of a friend.

Enter, stage left, the big guy.

David Harbour’s work in this movie embodies something we don’t see close to often enough: an action hero who never has it easy. There’s a Harrison Ford-ian energy to his work here, trudging through a job he hates but unable to back down when he sees someone in trouble. Harbour’s naturally laconic demeanour is a note-perfect fit and he gets the movie’s best lines without trying. Or seeming to. In truth, Harbour’s working constantly and so is Santa and the movie is at its best when it shows us that. Just as Trudy is saved by her friend, Santa is saved by being Trudy’s friend and his gradual transformation from panicky schlub to Viking Christmas Berserker is an absolute joy. Not just because Harbour actually looks like a real person (Dad bods represent!) but because it’s earned. Santa gets the hell kicked out of him and when he starts fighting back, your smile is as wide as his.

Finally, there’s the script. Casey and Miller have built a good heist movie, a great Santa Claus movie and a good Christmas movie wrapped around one another with tinsel that has delightfully sharp edges. Jimmy’s past is surprisingly nuanced, Jason’s choices coming to the party are fascinating, the family dynamic is as complex as it is ugly and the ending has some real emotion to it.

Verdict: This is a movie that tries to have it all and, like Santa with a plate of cookies, manages it. It’s funny, exuberantly violent, crammed full of great performances and just a really good time. This one is absolutely on the nice list. 9/10

Alasdair Stuart