Ebenezer, a new film directed by Ti West and starring Johnny Depp, gives us a new take on an old classic. Charles Dickens’ story A Christmas Carol has been adapted more times, in more ways, and in more formats than probably any other Christmas story.
What is it about this story that makes it such a timeless classic? I think it’s entirely possible to hit a saturation point on adaptations like this that make you wonder how many times we can keep telling this story. So, does Ti West find a new way to tell this old story while making it still feel like Dickens’ story, and can Johnny Depp bring Ebenezer to life in a fresh way that doesn’t violate our expectations?
I think the answer is actually pretty simple because Ti West giving us a new interpretation of a Ebenezer that we’ve known for generations, while also making him feel remarkably authentic to Charles Dickens’s original story.
The thing that really sets Ebenezer apart from the rest of the adaptations is the use of the ghosts. Ti West really leaned into the ghost story of A Christmas Carol in a way that felt surprisingly obvious for a ghost story, but he did it in a way that felt completely new, which was the last thing I thought I would be saying about this film.
You can read the review below or watch in on YouTube here:
Ebenezer introduces us to Ebenezer Scrooge as an old and bitter man who has traded human comfort and affection for the safety and security of money. After Jacob Marley, his partner and only friend, dies Ebenezer is visited by his friend’s ghost who comes to warn him of his own coming fate and the three ghosts who will be visiting him on Christmas Eve night.
This is his last chance to change and avoid spending eternity shackled to the earth as a spirit forever watching the life he can now never embrace. The warning stays with Ebenezer as odd things begin to happen around him and the ghostly visits begin, and that’s the setup for the film which is right in line with the original story.
Dickens’ Original Ghost Story
When it comes to adaptations, directors pull from all kinds of sources and inspirations to tell their stories, and when I look at Dickens’ original work, which is my favorite of all his books, and I compare it to what Ti West and Johnny Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge created, I think they actually managed to accomplish a film that honors Dickens’ intent and they do it by leaning into the spirit of A Christmas Carol and its subtitle, “A Ghost Story of Christmas.” They also pull inspiration from Dickens’ preface written in 1843 for his readers, where he says,
“I have endeavoured in this Ghostly little book, to raise the Ghost of an Idea, which shall not put my readers out of humour with themselves, with each other, with the season, or with me. May it haunt their houses pleasantly, and no one wish to lay it.”[1]
This film is a ghost story from start to finish. It’s filled with dark banter along with nicely timed comedic elements that thread together with emotional and scary moments that are designed to help build and release tension as Ebenezer is brought through the phases of his life, remembering his childhood, the people he loved most, the losses that have scarred him, and the suppressed affection that he carries around with him.
Does Ebenezer Offer Something New?
Johnny Depp doesn’t play Ebenezer for laughs based on common knowledge of who we all think of when we hear the name Ebenezer Scrooge. Instead, he pulls from the humanity of the character in the novel, and I think he may have even been inspired by the original performance of Alastair Sim’s performance in the 1951 film Scrooge. We get a man who is layered, and who has buried the softness of his humanity and the things he loves most beneath the layers of pain, disappointment, and struggle, protected by an iron-hard shell of financial stability and prudence so that he never has to depend upon another person for comfort and care. All of that represents the chain links that he has forged during his life and that he now carries around, just as his partner Jacob Marley carries them around in death.
We also get a wonderful introduction to Jacob Marley, played by Ian McKellen, as he and Ebenezer work away in the office on Christmas Eve Day. Their exchange perfectly establishes both their friendship and Marley’s role as the slightly more powerful person in the partnership, with Bob Cratchit, played by Rupert Grint, clerking in the cold shadows of the office. None of these men came off as caricatures or cartoon versions of Dickens’ characters, which makes them feel like authentic people from the Victorian era.
This is the scene that sets off everything in the film. It establishes the world, the characters, the dynamic between them, and includes the inciting incident that sets off everything that follows. The incredible thing about this opening scene is that it does everything within the first five to ten minutes, and because these three actors are exceptionally good character actors, their interactions feel natural and organic, which makes everything feel like we’re getting some peek into the real lives of these men. That’s good filmmaking.
The artistry of the film also contributes to that atmosphere and feeling of authenticity of the story. Before Ebenezer encounters the spirits, his world is dark, grim, gritty, and harsh. The use of shadow, light, and texture makes those living conditions feel oppressive. However, when we see him as a younger man, or when we see him after his encounters with the spirits, we see the brightness and liveliness of the world around him at Christmas. That contrast is part of the storytelling and makes the emotional change in Ebenezer feel much more tangible.
The story is literally riddled with ghosts, which isn’t surprising since Ebenezer lives next door to the graveyard, a choice that emphasizes the constant presence of what comes next after our lives end. There are also a lot of ghosts beyond the three Christmas spirits, and they are tortured by their own chains of greed and neglect for others. They’re now cursed to exist, forever seeing people in need of help while being unable to help them. The fact that Ebenezer can see them in the mist and they are looking back at him creates this constant connection to the idea that we reap what we sow.
The Three Ghosts of Christmas
In many adaptations, the three Christmas spirits come off as kindly or helpful guides meant to help Ebenezer Scrooge see the error of his ways. In this adaptation, they do fulfill their roles as guides, but they also exist as ghostly bridges between the living and the dead, in a way that brings home the idea that they are doing penance in their roles. They are not merely helpful spirits providing guidance and advice. They are spirits bound to the earth to serve their penance for their own failings in life.
The three Christmas spirits are possibly my favorite interpretation of these characters in film because they each have a backstory that connects their penance to their role as Ebenezer’s Christmas guides. The Ghost of Christmas Past has an almost freakish, ghostly white appearance, glowing as she takes Ebenezer back to his childhood and to the people he loved. We see his pain and regret from losing Belle, the woman he loved, and his tenderness for his sister. Both losses help us to understand why he has distanced himself from emotional connections and why Fred, his nephew, is such a painful reminder of what he lost.
The Ghost of Christmas Present is my favorite of the three because he truly feels new and unique as a film character while also being rooted in the original book character in ways that many adaptations miss. We get what should be a joyful man of abundance, nourished by roots and life within the earth, but the more we see him and get to know him, the more he decays as if every moment in the present brings him closer to the future and his own demise.
The Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come is dark and mysterious, never speaking but only communicating through gesture and motion. However, there is a connection here to Ebenezer’s future that I haven’t seen before, and I think it’s a brilliant way to connect Ebenezer with the choices that he is making in life, and only this ghost is able to fully show him where those choices lead.
Recommendation: Is It Ticket-Worthy?
For me, Ebenezer is absolutely ticket worthy because it gave me a story I have loved for decades and made so much of it feel new by reconnecting it with so many elements of the original story that other films have often neglected. That’s not to say it’s a perfect adaptation. There are things that are different and have been done to help connect us with the characters in a way that are necessary for audiences watching a film rather than just sinking into the book to absorb all of the little period details that would resonate with a Victorian audience. This film does that, but it does it in a way that also feels relevant today.
If you are a Dickens purist, I think you’ll find a lot here to enjoy even though it’s not perfect. It’s also a film that feels perfect for the holidays by ending on a joyful note that feels earned. It’s a great movie for the family and for friends. The ghosts might scare very children. So, just be aware of that one caveat.
If you don’t like Johnny Depp, I think this may be a film that you end up enjoying because he really does melt away into his character. When he is “on” as an actor he is superb, and that’s the level he brings us with this performance. For me this film is a 9 out of 10, but I am such a fan of Dickens’ work and this story, that I acknowledge that I could be a little biased by it and my love of Christmas movies. So, there is that!
[1] Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1843), Project Gutenberg, accessed November 11, 2026. https://www.gutenberg.org/files/46/46-h/46-h.htm
