There have been countless film adaptations of Charles Dickens’ holiday classic novella A Christmas Carol, including the 1951 version starring Alastair Sim, the musical Scrooge with Albert Finney in the title role, and Michael Caine portraying the old miser in A Muppets Christmas Carol. Now Johnny Depp takes on the classic character in the 2026 film version, Ebenezer.
The movie begins differently than most versions, as it flashes back seven years before the start of Dickens’ novel. Scrooge’s business partner, Jacob Marley (Ian McKellen), is still alive and working with Scrooge and their loyal clerk, Bob Cratchit (Rupert Grint), in their counting house on Christmas Eve. This glimpse back in time shows just how detached and unfeeling Marley and Scrooge are towards the holiday season.
Jumping ahead seven years, Ebenezer begins to follow the classic start of Dickens’ story. It’s Christmas Eve and Ebenezer Scrooge has gotten even meaner and colder toward Christmas and toward his fellow men. When his nephew, Fred (Sam Claflin), visits to wish him a Merry Christmas and extends an invitation for Christmas dinner – as he does every year – Scrooge delivers the classic line, “If I had my way, nephew, every idiot who went about with Merry Christmas on his lips would be boiled in his own pudding and buried with a steak of holly through his heart.”
Scrooge heads home after reluctantly giving Cratchit Christmas Day off and watches as his front door knocker shapeshifts into the face of Marley, his dead business partner. Once inside the dark house, Scrooge tries to eat dinner, but the bells in his house start ringing by themselves and stop him. His clocks, as well as Big Ben, start to chime all at once and then suddenly stop.
And we all know what happens next.
Scrooge hears chains being dragged up the stairs to his bedroom and the door unlocks itself, opening to reveal Marley’s ghost. Shocked and terrified, Scrooge puts up a good front, trying to talk to the spirit. He even stands up to Marley, declaring he doesn’t believe in ghosts, which only upsets the spirit, who bangs his chains until Scrooge begs him to stop. Scrooge asks why Marley wears chains, and the ghost tells him that he wears the chains he forged in life by his selfishness, greed, and indifference to other people’s plight.
Marley’s ghost warns Scrooge that three ghosts will visit him that very night in the hope of escaping his fate. “Expect the first when the bell tolls one,” says the spirit as he leaves.
Just like Dickens’ beloved classic, Ebenezer continues with the three Christmas spirits visiting Scrooge to show him his past, present, and possible future.
Dark, creepy, and more frightening than most takes, filmmaker Ti West’s Ebenezer focuses on the gothic ghost story at the heart of Dicken’s Christmas classic. It has more in common with the tone and style of Tim Burton’s Sleepy Hollow than any version of A Christmas Carol ever put on screen.
Johnny Depp delivers a vigorous, unconventional, and even moving performance as Ebenezer. Depp masterfully shows Ebenezer’s slow transformation as he travels with the spirits, evolving from a covetous, cold, disconnected old sinner to a man who finds true meaning and joy in his life. An especially moving scene involves Depp as the titular character yelling at his younger self to not let the love of his life, Belle (Ellie Bamber), leave him but to go after her, all the while being powerless to change what has already transpired. It’s a deeply touching scene and Depp plays it perfectly.
Ian McKellen delivers a truly memorable performance as Marley’s ghost, Ebenezer’s former business partner and only friend, who is trying to save him from a terrible fate. McKellen portrays Marley as both a terrifying and tragic spirit.
Andrea Riseborough is unforgettable and unrecognizable as the spirit of Christmas past. The makeup and effects give her a disturbing and haunting appearance that will stay with the audience after the film ends. The entire costume, production design, and makeup teams did a spectacular job bringing 19th-century London alive. The musical score by Tyler Bates adds to the film’s ghostly feel and horror vibe. And the visual effects are superb, bringing a unique look to the ghosts and the scenes of supernatural activity.
Eerie and chilling, with a wonderful performance by Depp, Ebenezer is a highly entertaining take on Dickens’ classic Christmas tale.
GRADE: B+
Rating: PG-13 for frightening material
Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes
Release Date: November 13, 2026
Studio: Paramount Pictures
