Holidays

"Every one has a dark side."

Director: Anthony Scott Burns Year: 2016 Runtime: 105 min IMDb: ⭐ 4.9
Movie Poster

Synopsis

An anthology feature film that puts a uniquely dark and original spin on some of the most iconic and beloved holidays of all time by challenging our folklore, traditions and assumptions.

Plot section not found on Wikipedia.

Summary adapted from TMDb and Wikipedia sources.

🎄 Holiday Cheer Breakdown

Content Warnings

⭐ IMDb Parents Guide 🛡️ Common Sense Media

a dog dies
spoiler I don't think there are any dogs.
someone is sexually assaulted
spoiler Yes, a drugged woman is raped in the fertility chapter (no. 4) to impregnate her, and a man is sort of raped, remotely, as revenge in the cam girl chapter (no. 6). Possibly sexual assault in other chapters, too; I don't remember.
a cat dies
spoiler I don't think there are any cats.
an animal dies
spoiler Hamster
a horse dies
spoiler I'm pretty sure there are no horses.
there are bugs
spoiler In the snake chapter (no. 2): Intact, but unmoving bugs (or at least a big centipede or the like) in a blender, which isn't turned on.
there are snakes
spoiler In the snake chapter (no. 2) (surprise!).
a child is abandoned by a parent or guardian
Yes
there's child abuse
spoiler A grown woman grew up abandoned by her father (clear almost from the beginning). Also, the father sounds somehow creepy on a recording, in a way that I think may resemble the way a sexually abusive man might sound. Something horrible happens to a little girl in the Easter Bunny chapter (no. 3). Possibly more.
there's domestic violence
spoiler No, but lots of violence.
the abused becomes the abuser
Yes
someone is stalked
Yes
alcohol abuse
spoiler Maybe. In the snake chapter (no. 2), the teacher wakes up in a car after most likely having drunk very heavily (it was her and her sister's plan to get totally wasted) the night before.
someone uses drugs
spoiler In the fertility chapter (no. 4), a pregnant woman is drugged. Possibly more.
someone is sexually assaulted onscreen
Yes
sexual assault on men is a joke
Yes
someone is drugged
Yes
someone's mouth is covered
Yes
someone is restrained
Yes
there's eye mutilation
spoiler In the dating chapter (no. 8): Eyes in glass jars. Creepily unnatural eyes in the Easter Bunny chapter (no. 3). Possibly more.
there's excessive gore
Yes
there's torture
spoiler Heart cut out in the bullying chapter (no. 1). The dating chapter (no. 8) starts with a tied-up woman about to be tortured. Possibly more.
there's genital trauma/mutilation
Yes
there's body horror
Yes
there's finger/toe mutilation
spoiler In the Easter Bunny chapter (no. 3): Stigmata wounds in hands; chickens emerge from them, and later on an eye appears in one of the wounds.
heads get squashed
spoiler Not sure. In the dating chapter (no. 8), someone is shot in the head off-screen (but we see the blood splatter on the wall), and someone gets an axe blade buried deep in their forehead/skull.
teeth are damaged
Yes
there's shaving/cutting
spoiler In the bullying chapter (no. 1), someone has their heart cut out while alive. We don't see the cutting, but we see it happening from a distance; screaming. Possibly other instances, not sure.
there's amputation
spoiler In the dating chapter (no. 8), a foot is chopped off almost completely with an axe, then pulled to sever it completely.
someone breaks a bone
Yes
someone struggles to breathe
Yes
someone is stabbed
Yes
Someone becomes unconscious
Yes
a kid dies
spoiler Not sure. In the Easter Bunny chapter (no. 3), a child is turned into something sinister.
someone dies
Yes
someone cheats
spoiler Not sure. In the Christmas gift chapter (no. 7), a husband fantasizes about someone else.
a family member dies
Yes
someone is kidnapped
spoiler In the fertility chapter (no. 4), someone goes somewhere voluntarily, but is then kept against her will. She herself uses the word "kidnapped" about what happened to her. People are also held against their will in various ways in chapters 6, 7 and 8.
there are jump scares
spoiler In the Easter Bunny chapter (no. 3), one jumpscare (in a hallway) made me both jump and cry out.
there are razors
spoiler Boxcuter in the First Chapter
there are clowns
spoiler No. In the snake chapter (no. 2) there are people wearing animal masks.
there are shower scenes
spoiler Not sure. In the snake chapter (no. 2), someone bathes and gives birth in a tub. In the dating chapter (no. 8), we see a dead body in a dry tub.
there's natural bodies of water
Yes
someone vomits
spoiler In the snake chapter (no. 2), the teacher throws up a veritable cascade of a blackish liquid while sitting at her desk.
There's audio gore
Yes
there's spitting
Yes
needles/syringes are used
spoiler Not sure, but in the fertility chapter (no. 4), someone is being drugged every day, and we briefly see a bowl full of syringes.
someone has cancer
spoiler No. In the bullying chapter (no. 1), someone has a heart disease and needs a transplant.
there's a hospital scene
spoiler In the snake chapter (no. 2), a woman gets an ultrasound and talks to a doctor. Possibly others, not sure.
someone dies by suicide
spoiler I don't think so, but in the bullying chapter (no. 1) we're told that someone's father committed suicide with a box cutter.
someone self harms
spoiler In the first chapter, we're told that the girl cuts herself with a box cutter, but it may not be the case. Possibly other instances, not sure.
there's a claustrophobic scene
spoiler In both the Christmas gift chapter (no. 7) and the dating chapter (no. 8) a person is tied to a chair, and another is trapped in an apartment in no. 8. Possibly more.
someone has a mental illness
Yes
there's flashing lights or images
Yes
a baby cries
Yes
there's screaming
Yes
there is obscene language/gestures
Yes
there's underwater scenes
Yes
someone miscarries
Yes
there's childbirth
spoiler ----------- SPOILERS ---------------- In the snake chapter (no. 2) and the fertility chapter (no. 4) - except what's being born are not children (in both cases). Both births are dramatic and pretty disgusting/scary.
a pregnant person dies
spoiler No, but there are pregnant women in the snake chapter (no. 2) and the fertility chapter (no. 4). -------------- SPOILERS -------------- The first pregnancy lasts more than a year, and the woman has been told from the start that she'll give birth to a reptile (which doesn't bother her). The second pregnancy is forced upon the woman, is traumatic and ends horribly.
someone has an abortion
spoiler Not during the movie, but in the fertility chapter we're told that a woman has terminated 20 pregnancies.
there is a baby or unborn child
Yes
there's fat jokes
Yes
someone is misgendered
spoiler No. ------------- SPOILER --------------- In the cam girl chapter (no. 6), a man is forced to "give himself a pussy" with a knife. We don't see it, as something is in the way.
someone speaks hate speech
spoiler "Bitch", "whore", "slut" and more. In the first chapter, a teen girl is badly verbally bullied.
the black guy dies first
spoiler As far as I remember, there are no black people in any of the chapters.
there are incestuous relationships
spoiler No, but in the father/daugher chapter (no. 5), a father sounds somehow creepy on a recording, in a way that I think may resemble the way a sexually abusive man might sound.
there is sexual content
spoiler In the Christmas gift chapter (no. 7) (pretty mild S&M fantasies), the fertility chapter (no. 4) (rape of a drugged woman, rather brief and not explicit) and the cam girl chapter (no. 6) (talk and typed words about sex + "remote-controlled" rape/torture). Implied in the snake chapter (no. 2). Hook-up euphemistically agreed upon plus a groin grab through pants in the dating chapter (no. 8). In the fertility chapter there's full frontal female nudity. "Dirty" words for sex acts and -organs are said and/or typed in several of the chapters.
there are nude scenes
Yes
someone is sexually objectified
Yes
there's BDSM
Yes
the ending is sad
spoiler Yes, in the bullying chapter (no. 1) (if also somewhat triumphantly/satisfyingly if you appreciate comeuppance), the Easter Bunny chapter (no. 3) the fertility chapter (no. 4), and the dad/daughter chapter (no. 5). There are horrible, but not really sad endings to the cam girl chapter (no. 6) (if also somewhat triumphant/satisfying if you appreciate comeuppance), the Christmas gift chapter (no. 7) and the dating chapter (no. 8) (also somewhat triumphant/satisfying if you appreciate comeuppance). The snake chapter (no. 2) ends sort of happily.
Santa (et al) is spoiled
spoiler The Easter Bunny (in chapter 3).
there's blood/gore
spoiler Lots, bad. None in the father/daughter chapter (no. 5). No real gore in the snake chapter (no. 2) and the fertility chapter (no. 4), but there are other disgusting things. The dating chapter (no. 8) is very bad (eyes in jars, foot chopped off, decomposing body in tub, axe in head and more). Lots of blood at the end of the Christmas gift chapter (no. 7). Bloody human heart in the bullying chapter (no. 1).
someone drowns
spoiler No, but it comes close enough in the bullying chapter (no. 1) to possibly trigger some people.
there's gun violence
spoiler Yes, in the dating chapter (no. 8) and possibly in the Christmas gift chapter (no. 7).

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