Johnny Depp is back in a big studio film, and Ti West's Ebenezer opens in UK cinemas on Friday 13 November. Scrooge has had more screen outings than I could ever count, but honestly, I'm keen to see what a horror director does with Dickens' ghost story. The first reviews are in and critics are split, so here's what to know before you book.

Ebenezer at a glance

  • In UK cinemas: Friday 13 November 2026, from Paramount Pictures
  • Runtime: 1 hour 56 minutes. The BBFC's advice for the film is "moderate horror, threat, violence", so check the age rating before taking younger family members.
  • Director and writer: Ti West, from a screenplay by Nathaniel Halpern
  • Cast: Johnny Depp as Ebenezer Scrooge, Ian McKellen as Jacob Marley, Rupert Grint as Bob Cratchit and Sam Claflin as Scrooge's nephew Fred, with Andrea Riseborough as the Ghost of Christmas Past, Tramell Tillman as the Ghost of Christmas Present and Ellie Bamber as Belle. Daisy Ridley and Arthur Conti also star.
Johnny Depp as Scrooge in a nightcap, wide-eyed and holding a candle in the dark, beside the red Ebenezer title logo
A frightened Scrooge in the Ebenezer (2026) second trailer. Image Credit: Paramount Pictures

What is Ebenezer about?

It retells Charles Dickens' 1843 novella A Christmas Carol. A miserly moneylender is haunted by the ghost of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, and warned that three spirits are on their way.

West made his name in horror with The House of the Devil and the X trilogy, and this version leans into the scares. The Hollywood Reporter says it "feels essentially like a horror film for most of its running time", with jump scares and grotesque visuals.

What the critics are saying

The verdicts run from "effective" to "dull and dreary":

  • The Hollywood Reporter calls it a "creepily effective comeback vehicle" for Depp, though it adds that the film doesn't break any new ground.
  • IGN says West does "a respectable enough job" with a horror-forward approach, but finds Depp's busy performance "pulls more focus than is necessary".
  • CBR says it "fails to make its own mark".
  • IndieWire is the harshest, calling it "dull and dreary" in its headline, although it does say the film stays faithful to Dickens at its core.
  • Deadline's headline has Depp "blissfully" going "all Scrooge" in a horror-flavoured take on the classic.

The review scores sit in the middle. Wikipedia's running tally lists 55% on Rotten Tomatoes from 47 reviews and 48 out of 100 on Metacritic, which it describes as "mixed or average". ComicBook.com says Depp's performance was "mostly well-received" in the first reactions, with viewers more divided about the film itself. One early viewer, Brandon Davis, called it "like It's A Wonderful Life had a baby with Disneyland's Haunted Mansion ride".

How Depp's Scrooge is being compared

Critics keep measuring him against other Scrooges. CBR says Depp is "doing nothing here that actors such as Albert Finney, Michael Caine, and even Bill Murray haven't done better". The Hollywood Reporter says the style "most closely resembles" Finney's broad take in the 1970 musical Scrooge. IndieWire goes the other way, noting there are "no Muppets" and no "uncanny mo-capped Jim Carrey", a nod to Michael Caine's The Muppet Christmas Carol (1992) and Carrey's 2009 motion-capture version.

Bill Murray's 1988 comedy Scrooged keeps coming up. Tramell Tillman, who plays the Ghost of Christmas Present, told ComicBook.com it was his first memory of the story and inspired his take on the character.

The comparison I'm most curious about is with Depp's own career, which critics reach for too. The Hollywood Reporter says the film lets him "deliver the sort of quirky theatrical performance for which he became famous", while IndieWire sets Scrooge against his Pirates of the Caribbean years. Several reviews also use the word "comeback", and ComicBook.com notes it is his first major studio film since Fantastic Beasts: The Crimes of Grindelwald in 2018.

A look back at Depp's characters

If you want a refresher on those earlier roles, here are a few of the best known:

  • Edward Scissorhands (1990) and Ed Wood (1994), the first two of eight films with Tim Burton
  • Raoul Duke in Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), directed by Terry Gilliam
  • Captain Jack Sparrow in Pirates of the Caribbean (from 2003), which earned him an Oscar nomination for Best Actor
  • J. M. Barrie in Finding Neverland (2004), another Best Actor nomination
  • Willy Wonka in Charlie and the Chocolate Factory (2005)
  • Sweeney Todd in Sweeney Todd: The Demon Barber of Fleet Street (2007), a third Oscar nomination and a Golden Globe win

His film debut was in horror too, in A Nightmare on Elm Street in 1984.

Dickens' tale has had countless retellings, and whether this one earns a place alongside the favourites is something I want to find out for myself. Are you heading to see Ebenezer this weekend, or have you had your fill of Scrooges? If you're in the mood for more screen scares, our look at the IT: Welcome to Derry Halloween episode is a good next read, and there's plenty more in our Film & TV news.