Early reactions to “Ebenezer,” Johnny Depp’s first major Hollywood studio film since his widely reported legal battles, have praised the actor’s performance as Ebenezer Scrooge while offering a divided view of Ti West’s darker adaptation of Charles Dickens’s A Christmas Carol, per hollywoodreporter.com.
The Paramount Pictures film opens in cinemas globally on November 13.
Paramount held press screenings in New York and London before allowing attendees to publish short reactions on social media. Full critics’ reviews are due on November 12, a day before the film’s theatrical release.
The film reimagines Dickens’s 1843 novella as a black comedy and gothic ghost story set in Victorian London. Depp plays Scrooge, a miserly businessman who despises Christmas and begins a redemption journey after being visited by three spirits.
Early responses have concentrated on Depp’s portrayal. Several viewers described his performance as lively, emotionally grounded and well suited to the role, with some comparing it favourably with earlier screen interpretations of Scrooge.
Ti West, whose previous credits include the X trilogy, The House of the Devil and The Innkeepers, directs from a screenplay by Nathaniel Halpern. The reactions highlighted the film’s gothic visual style, production design, makeup effects and Tyler Bates’s score.
Not all responses were positive. Some viewers said the adaptation remained too close to the familiar source material and did not offer enough that was new, while others criticised its editing, humour or pacing. One reaction described the film as chaotic and ill-judged, although it praised the production design and score.
The cast also includes Ian McKellen, Rupert Grint, Andrea Riseborough, Sam Claflin, Daisy Ridley, Arthur Conti, Ellie Bamber, Henry Lloyd-Hughes and Tramell Tillman.
“Ebenezer” marks a significant return for Depp to mainstream Hollywood filmmaking. His recent screen work has been limited: he appeared in the 2023 French film Jeanne du Barry and directed and produced, but did not star in, 2024’s Modì, Three Days on the Wing of Madness. He is next set to appear in Lionsgate’s supernatural thriller “Day Drinker,” scheduled for 2027.
•Featured image: Johnny Depp in ‘Ebenezer’/Paramount Pictures