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Violent Night | 2022 | R | – 1.8.10

content-ratingsWhy is “Violent Night” rated R? The MPAA rating has been assigned for “strong bloody violence, language throughout and some sexual references.” The Kids-In-Mind.com evaluation includes a couple of kissing scenes, a robbery with many gunmen killing other armed people and threatening others with a lot of blood, many people fighting with a variety of weapons that end in bloody deaths, many arguments and over 50 F-words and other strong language. Read our parents’ guide below for details on sexual content, violence & strong language.


A wealthy family’s Christmas is interrupted by a group of robbers until Santa Claus (David Harbour) arrives and tries to help, providing the appropriate deliverance to those on his naughty list. Also with Beverly D’Angelo, John Leguizamo, Cam Gigandet, Edi Patterson, Brendan Fletcher, Alex Hassell, Mike Dopud, Mitra Suri, Alexis Louder, Stephanie Sy, Alexander Elliot, Leah Brady and André Eriksen. Directed by Tommy Wirkola. [Running Time: 1:52]

Violent Night SEX/NUDITY 1

 – A woman tells a man to kiss her in front of her son, and he does. A man and a woman kiss tenderly.
 A man describes in crude terms how he likes sex before a rescue operation. A character says that a young girl’s name makes her sound like a “whore.” We hear that a teen boy was accused of sexual harassment and that his grandmother paid people off to drop the charges.
 A man removes his coat and shirt to stitch up a wound on his abdomen and we see his bare chest, abdomen and back (he has many tattoos). A woman wears a low-cut dress that reveals cleavage. A man unzips and pulls another man’s pants down and we see his boxer shorts (please see the Violence/Gore category for more details).

Violent Night VIOLENCE/GORE 8

 – Heavily armed people load their weapons and move through a compound killing several security guards; several are shot with blood gushing and splattering, others are slashed and stabbed with knives (blood sprays). A man fights two other men in a panic room and one man is shot and the other’s throat is stomped on; a gunman then threatens a woman and her family. A man shoots another man in the head at close-range and blood splatters (we see him dead again later).
 A man with a gun hits another man in the stomach with the gun, and then in the face, and the injured man head-butts the gunman, who shoots into the ceiling of the room causing reindeer that’s on the roof to fly away; the two men continue to fight with one man wrapped with string lights and the other punching him in the kidneys, one man is stabbed in the leg with an ice pick and thrown out a window, and the other man is pulled with him by the string lights and he crashes to the ground moaning; we see the other man impaled on an ice sculpture and they both have bloody wounds. Armed people riding snowmobiles speed toward a compound; they encounter a man outside and shoot him (we see blood splatter). A man uses an ice skate to slash and stab several attackers and cuts one man’s head off (we see it separate and the man’s body falls to the floor with a lot of blood). A man shoots himself in the foot while fighting another man and he is stabbed in the mouth with a pointed candy cane that is then used to stab another person repeatedly (we see bloody wounds and splatter). A man tries to throw a grenade at another man that picks it up and chases him; he shoves the grenade into the other man’s pants and he is blown up (we see what looks like a severed appendage on the ground). A man with a gun threatens three people and they attack him with fireplace tools beating him repeatedly (we see him motionless and with blood on his face); he then sits up and gasps and a woman stabs him in the throat (we see blood gush) and he falls back dead. A man holds a woman off the ground by the throat and she gasps, before stabbing him in the throat with an icicle; he falls dead on the ground with blood pouring from the wound. A man hides in a shack and armed people surround it, and then enter and fight with the man inside, who hits several with a large sledgehammer, strangles one man with tinsel, and a snow blower is turned on and two men are dragged into its blades (we see blood and tissue spray out of the chute on top of the machine. A man steps on a broken ladder rung and falls on a nail that drives through his chin (we see blood and the nail in his mouth and we hear squishing when he pulls his head away from the nail); he is struck by a bowling ball and he falls back onto several nails, drill bits and blades on the floor (he pulls one out and a lot of blood pours from the wound), and a nail is driven into his forehead when a bowling ball falls from the attic above him (he falls back dead with blood on his head). A woman shoots several gunmen in the distance and they shoot back at her; one man is struck in the groin and falls down yelling until another man shoots him, killing him.
 A man searches in a magic bag for a weapon and eventually uses a doll to hit a gunman in the head, the doll’s head pops off and the man then uses a stick to hit the other man and they fight: one man flips over a pool table and uses a hat stuffed with pool balls to hit the other man’s hand and then his head and face repeatedly, one man is struck with darts and yells, one man is thrown into a Christmas tree, one man tries to stab the other through a magic bag and the blade does not pass through it, and one man is stabbed in the eye with a treetop star decoration that sets his hair and face on fire when it is plugged in. A man speeds on a snowmobile toward a man, he crashes into a tree stump and is thrown through the wall of a shack, where he is shot at by a man outside; they fight, gas spills on the floor and fire spreads around them, an explosion throws them both out of the building and they continue to fight outside with one man being slashed and stabbed, one man’s hand being pinned onto a stone wall (he pulls it free and we hear tearing and see blood), and one man grabs the other man and flies up a nearby chimney holding him (the other man is crushed in the process and we see a bloody lump of flesh later).
 A man holds another man in a chair while a third man crushes one of his fingers in a nutcracker (we hear cracking and the man yells in pain); the second man then tells another person to crush his testicles in a larger nutcracker and a man unzips the man’s pants to do so, but they are interrupted. A man slams a woman in the head with a sledgehammer, and then hits her again off-screen and we hear a crunch. A man uses a sledgehammer to break the leg of another man and we see it bend unnaturally, as the man screams. A man rides a sled and jumps onto another man on a snowmobile knocking him off the vehicle and stealing the snowmobile. A man is shot several times and he falls to the ground moaning (we see bloody wounds and blood in his mouth); people crowd around him as he dies, but later revives.
 A woman is struck by several bowling balls in an attic, she steps into a large amount of glue on the floor and pulls her hair and part of her scalp off when she stands up (we see blood and tissue); she then steps on glass decorations with her sock-covered feet and she is struck in the head by a dumbbell. A man shoots a fire extinguisher that blows a door open and knocks a man on the other side of the door to the floor unconscious; we later see him tied into a chair with string lights.
 A man holds a woman by the throat and threatens to torture everyone else in the room. A man shoots a large Christmas tree and other people in the room fall to the floor. A man holds a gun to another man’s head (he is distracted and does not shoot). A man with a gun stands at a bedroom door as a man, a woman and their child try to get away. A man punches a teen boy in the face, another man kicks the man knocking him down and then jumps out of a window and runs away. A man punches another man hard in the face knocking him unconscious. A man punches a woman hard in the face, shoots a gun into the ceiling and pushes the woman onto a sofa.
 A bartender chases a seemingly inebriated man up a flight of stairs to the roof and she sees him in a sleigh and being pulled into the sky by reindeer; the man in the sleigh vomits as he passes over the woman covering her with goo (we see goo with chunks in it). A man collapses on the floor unconscious and has a flashback to a battle scene where he is seen wearing a heavy helmet and is splattered with blood; we see a village in rubble and flames around him and a large sledgehammer in his hand drips blood. A man does martial arts moves in a few scenes trying to show off his skills. A man tries to use a special power to fly up a chimney in a few scenes but it doesn’t work. A man throws a magic bag into a fireplace and it glows with bright colors.
 A man threatens to cut off the genitals of another man. A man talks about wanting to steal a neighbor’s Christmas gifts one year when he had none and that when he broke into their house, the grandfather was startled and fell down the stairs, breaking his neck. We read that a man killed his best friend (no details are given). We hear that a woman made her brother eat worms when he was young. A woman yells at a man when he throws piles of money on a fire to keep another man warm. A man tells his young daughter that Santa is not real and another man seems alarmed by the news. A man leaves a lump of coal on a table near a sleeping man and takes several cans of beer as he leaves. A woman yells at someone on the phone and ends the call by addressing the person as “senator.” A man is troubled by what kids have become and talks about greed and consumerism. A man berates a caterer for the presentation at the bar. A man complains about people groveling to a woman trying to gain her favor and family members infighting. A woman tells another woman, “You’ve gained weight.” A character tells a woman, “No wonder your husband left you.” A teen boy complains when Wi-Fi goes out and his grandmother tells his mother, “I begged you to beat him when he was young.” A woman complains that a man’s mother is forcing herself between them. A woman refers to a security force as her “Kill Squad.” A woman talks about her brother having been kidnapped when they were younger and that he was rescued and the kidnappers were never seen again. A man tells a woman, “I know you’re an idiot, but don’t be an idiot out loud.” A man says that he wants to “Randomly shoot people.” A woman talks about being told, “A girl doesn’t have what it takes” [to run a company]. A man yells at several reindeer and kicks snow at them.
 A man drips a stream of blood on the ground and later sews up a cut in his abdomen using an ornament hook and gold thread (we see the open wound and blood and hear squishing). We see a large puddle of blood on the floor after several people are killed. A man steps in a pile of fresh feces and yells at reindeer for being unprofessional. A man urinates off a sled while flying and we see the stream. A man urinates on the ground and we hear the stream. A man burps several times after drinking a lot of beer and liquor. A man drinks milk and spits it back out. A man looks at a glass of milk and complains that it is skim.

Violent Night LANGUAGE 10

 – About 55 F-words and its derivatives, 2 sexual references, 41 scatological terms, 17 anatomical terms, 20 mild obscenities, name-calling (you filthy animal, weird, the worst caterer, stupid, bastards, gold digger, alcoholic, phony, money-grubbing, loser, idiot, Nickamond the Red, mean, skull crusher, greedy), exclamations (shut-up, freaking, ew, yuk), 4 religious profanities (GD), 8 religious exclamations (e.g. my God, #blessed, Jesus Christ, Holy [scatological term deleted], God, Jesus, thank God, oh my God). | profanity glossary |

Violent Night SUBSTANCE USE

 – Two men in a pub are shown dressed as Santa Claus and drinking beer (one man appears inebriated) and the bartender asks if he is driving, a man chugs a can of beer, a woman pours a large glass of liquor, a man complains about a glass of skim milk being left for him and drinks a large glass of brandy instead, a woman opens of a gift of a bottle of whisky, and a woman drinks a Martini.

Violent Night DISCUSSION TOPICS

 – Extreme wealth, power, greed, Christmas, Santa Claus, magic, loneliness, dignity, marriage and relationships, Christmas wishes.

Violent Night MESSAGE

 – Santa Claus is real and needs to know we believe in him and that he still matters.

CAVEATS

Be aware that while we do our best to avoid spoilers it is impossible to disguise all details and some may reveal crucial plot elements.

We've gone through several editorial changes since we started covering films in 1992 and older reviews are not as complete & accurate as recent ones; we plan to revisit and correct older reviews as resources and time permits.

Our ratings and reviews are based on the theatrically-released versions of films; on video there are often Unrated, Special, Director's Cut or Extended versions, (usually accurately labelled but sometimes mislabeled) released that contain additional content, which we did not review.


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