Director: Shane Brady
Year: 2026
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Horror/Comedy
Plot:
Trying to get by during COVID, a family learns they’ve been hacked and have their digital lives stolen by a master criminal, and forced into a different way of life, decides to seek out revenge against the individual responsible, which leads to a wild escalation of events to accomplish that.
Review:
This was a generally fun if somewhat one-note comedy. The sheer insanity of what transpires here, from the early setup of the family trying to scrape by for a new house, while the kids carry on their online lives playing video games or shooting movies for their fans, only to get their money stolen and digital lives erased by a sinister hacker as payback for how they treated him, serves to introduce this one incredibly well. The sheer panic and confusion over the situation and the helplessness at being stuck in the system that can’t help you makes everything feel that much more sympathetic as this goes along, and sets up the long-overdue need for revenge against the individual. Gathering up a series of other individuals to accomplish their task, from the government agents to the other target of the hackers’ work, and finally bringing in Santa Claus himself to be involved in the procedure, gives everything a great setup at play.
After going through the round of different tactics to provide the setup for the second half, to consist of the endless rounds of torture that take place, given a hilariously absurd premise with the idea that Santa’s magic allows him to be revived time and again for more punishment. This carries on through an impressive series of interactions and tactics into a wholly enjoyable time, even though that highlights the one issue here, where it’s all so over-the-top and one-note that it starts to wear out its welcome rather quickly. With the whole joke being that he can keep getting brought back to life after they’ve tortured him to death, the whole point runs on far too long to be all that funny once the joke becomes apparent. This manages to override the realism that’s been built until this point by adding a touch of whimsy in something that doesn’t need it, and with a bizarre ending that blurs fantasy for reality, there are some issues with this one.
Overview: ***.5/5
A likable and hilarious genre effort, there’s enough within here to be a worthwhile take on the genre, so long as the idea of what’s going on not being too tied into the genre is a big deal for viewers. Those with an appreciation for the kind of genre fare presented here or who are curious about it will have a lot to like here, while most others out there should heed caution.
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