‘Ebenezer’ review: Johnny Depp is a cartoonish Scrooge in Ti West’s underwhelming, unnecessary Dickens adaptation

Dir: Ti West. US/UK. 2026. 116mins

Over 180 years after its publication, Charles Dickens’ 1843 novella A Christmas Carol remains one of the most beloved of the author’s works – and certainly the most adapted. Starting with the 1901 UK short film Scrooge, Or Marley’s Ghost, the story of the miserly Ebenezer Scrooge and his supernatural reckoning has been retold for stage and screen hundreds of times, in a variety of ways. That horror director Ti West is helming this new adaptation suggests a darker approach; the use of the protagonist’s first name as a title perhaps hints at a more nuanced character study. Yet Ebenezer plays it entirely safe, an uninspiring, unnecessary drama which centres on a performance from Johnny Depp that again foregrounds caricature over character.

Trades so heavily on the presence of Depp that the rest may as well be window dressing

This is Depp’s first studio film since 2018’s Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes Of Grindelwald and, given the personal and legal turmoil the actor has faced over recent years, it’s no surprise he is hitching his mainstream Hollywood comeback attempt to this ultimate redemption narrative. And, despite the allegations levelled at him, Depp is still bound to draw a crowd when the film rolls out globally from November 11; audiences could also be tempted by a carefully-assembled starry cast including Ian McKellen, Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin and Daisy Ridley. While it faces stiff competition from the November 20 release of The Hunger Games: Sunrise On The Reaping, Paramount will be banking on this festive favourite to have long legs through the holiday season.

Screenwriter Nathaniel Halpern (making his feature debut after creating TV show Tales From The Loop and penning episodes of Outcast and Legion) introduces us to Ebenezer Scrooge (Depp) as he works alongside his accounting partner (and only friend) Jacob Marley (McKellan) and long-suffering clerk Bob Cratchit (Grint) on Christmas Eve, determinedly railing against the merriment of the season – only for Marley to die suddenly, in front of a distressed Ebenezer.

This opening sequence is not in the novella, which starts seven years after Marley’s death, and its inclusion is an early, pointed reminder that Ebenezer is, at heart, a sympathetic character, beset by traumas that have curdled his spirit. And while A Christmas Carol has always been a rehabilitation narrative, the screenplay seems to be clinging to this point for dear life – “I’m not the man I used to be,” proclaims Depp-as-Ebenezer more times than is strictly necessary.

During this long dark night of the soul, Ebenezer is first visited by Marley’s ghost, bound by chains forged from his own earthly avarice, who warns him to change his selfish ways. Next comes The Ghost Of Christmas Past (Riseborough, terrific, albeit saddled with a monotonous otherworldly drawl), a chilling woman in white who takes Ebenezer back through his difficult childhood, and the pain of losing both his beloved sister, who died as a young woman, and the love of his life, who grew sick of his greed. The Ghost Of Christmas Present (a superb Tramell Tillman) then gives Ebenezer a peek into the lives of his nephew Fred (Claflin) and Cratchit’s family, including sickly son Tim (Freddie Lee-Grey). Finally, The Ghost Of Christmas Yet To Come shows Ebenezer a future in which Tim is dead and he follows soon thereafter, mourned by no one.

These are, of course, recognisable beats for anyone who has read the book or seen one of the many, many adaptations – 1970’s Scrooge, with Albert Finney, for example, 1988’s Scrooged or 1992’s The Muppet Christmas Carol. Overcoming that baked-in familiarity and giving audiences a reason to re-engage was always going to be a challenge, but Ebenezer trades so heavily on the questionable presence of Depp that the rest may as well be window dressing. While the film boasts lavish production design, there is nothing here to overcome the overwhelming sense that we’ve seen it all before, from the stylised, theme park-esque environs of Dickensian London to Tyler Bates’s classical, whimsical score.

Equally, Depp’s performance is more of the same, the actor drawing from the eccentric playbooks he deployed for Captain Jack Sparrow, the Mad Hatter and Willy Wonka; his Ebenezer less a character, more a collection of sneers and grimaces. Others like McKellan and Grint fare better, digging into the fundamental humanity of the story, but play second fiddle. The ghosts themselves are visually striking, and the effects work impressive, but even they can’t lift the film’s dour spirits.

Which is a shame, as there was real potential to do something different here. Filmmaker West made his name with effective low-budget chillers including The Inkeepers (2011) and The House Of The Devil (2009), before turning it up a notch with horror triptych X, Pearl (both 2022) and MaXXXine (2024). The idea of him bringing his considerable genre experience to Dickens’ evergreen ghost tale is a tantalising prospect, and there are several moments where he pleasingly ratchets up the fear factor and flirts with a gothic Hammer Horror vibe. (The book’s door knocker scare is effectively realised, and there is also a winking nod to Depp’s A Nightmare On Elm Street debut.) Yet by aiming squarely at a family audience (it is rated PG-13 in the US and 12A in the UK) but likely proving too intense for young children, this Ebenezer ends up languishing somewhere in the mediocre middle. Bah, humbug indeed.