One need only look to The Muppet Christmas Carol, the best Christmas movie of them all, to understand why Charles Dickens’ novella has endured countless adaptations over the nearly two hundred years since it was published. The miserly Ebenezer Scrooge’s confrontation with the ghosts of his past with hopes for a brighter future is so fundamentally strong that a staging of it by Michael Caine and Kermit the Frog that blends all sorts of tones and meta commentary has room not only to work, but to stand as an unambiguously respected adaptation of the text. Ti West’s Ebenezer feels most focused on illuminating the darker corners of Dickens’ tale, but the broad and classically Johnny Depp performance at its heart holds it back from ever elevating into a more meaningful adaptation of the text.

A Christmas Carol is, of course, a ghost story at its heart, and Ti West’s long history in the horror genre - including a ghost story of his own, The Innkeepers - makes him an interesting director to see paired with the material. West’s instincts on how and where to amp up A Christmas Carol’s spooky trappings are strong from the top down, and they’re most evident in Ebenezer’s production design. Ebenezer leans on the austere chill of its Victorian London setting well with practical sets and stages that instantly read as Christmas Carol-appropriate. The destitute and dour look of the film illuminates both the poverty Scrooge hates and the corresponding spiritual bankruptcy from which he suffers in equal measure.

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