• Director: Casey Tebo
• Writer: Andy Greskoviak
• Starring: Devon Sawa, Ivana Baquero, Ryan Lee, with Bruce Campbell

I don’t know if there is any year where I would enjoy watching Black Friday’s retail workers sacrificed in the name of pointless consumerism. This year however may have been a particularly bleak one for this kind of movie. The cost of living is rising, and corporate greed feels like it’s eclipsed basic human decency.  I thought I was settling down for a nice movie about how consumer culture creates monsters. That’s not exactly what Black Friday delivers.

Retail and Hollywood

There is a standard Hollywood fiction in these types of movies that would have the audience believe that a single father could provide for his two kids on a standard, non-manager, retail salary. This is not the case and has not been since Al Bundy sold shoes.  Black Friday does a better job than other movies of trying to establish that this divorced dad doesn’t see his kids much; we don’t see his house or standard of living, other than a pretty nice car.  I’m all about the suspension of disbelief but even that has its limits. Aliens, zombies, and other monsters, fine. Pretending that a box toy store pays even long-employed staff a decent, much less livable wage – not a chance. 

Black Friday was made in 2021, and had some limitations due to COVID filming restrictions, but until I learned that researching, I didn’t pick up on it. None of those restrictions bother me as much as the tone issues.

Review and Recap – Spoilers Ahead

After a promising cold opening where a box store worker gets attacked by a glowing purple egg-thing, the movie cuts to divorced dad Ken, played by Devon Sawa, as he drops his kids off on Thanksgiving at his ex-wife’s house before heading to work.  It then jumps to a dysfunctional family eating dinner and picking on their son, Chris, for having to work on Thanksgiving. Or for some other reason, they don’t seem to like him much.

Ken picks Chris up and they head to We Love Toys, the chain toy store they both work at. On the way, they pass a closed electronics store and almost get flattened by a speeding emergency vehicle; clear indications that the bad things have already started.

Meet the Crew

A shot of a sick couple waiting in line outside We Love Toys is immediately followed up on by a news report on meteors causing an illness in people in the area broadcast on the breakroom T.V. This is ignored as we get to know most of the rest of the cast.

There is Marnie, a 20-something cashier who flirts with Ken a lot; Bircher the slacker; Archie the badass; Anita the Employee of the month. Seriously that’s her character trait. Brian the assistant manager is just a douche; the worst kind of petty tyrant who lords his tiny amount of control over the employees he manages, if he didn’t come off as needlessly cruel.

About Character

This is the kind of movie that relies on characters having such extreme personalities that defy logic and reality.  The corporate drone only cares about corporate policy no matter what, even in the face of most extreme circumstances.  All thoughts of survival or self-preservation are secondary to their core characteristic.  It’s a tiresome way to introduce human antagonists in a plot that could have been more interesting with more nuanced characters.

The first employee to get done in by the approaching alien parasites is Bircher during a smoke break. After his quick exit, the store manager Jonathan gets a slow dramatic introduction over the intercom. It works considering he’s played by Bruce Campbell. Jonathan is another corporate stooge who lives for his job.  That makes three in the cast.

Black Friday Begins

At midnight, the shoppers are let in, and we get a montage of people buying generic toys in the calmest Black Friday spree ever. Tempers are starting to flare and shoppers and employees alike are getting rude when alien-infected customers attack the germaphobe Chris. He fights back, ending up zip-tied to a chair by Brian while the rest try to clear the store and calm things down.

From there, things escalate quickly when a trainee gets infected and then almost immediately takes out Anita. Archie gets to step up and defend the group with his nail gun. In the aftermath they discover that what is happening there, is happening everywhere.

Archie gets to be a badass again, closing the employee exit to keep more infected from coming in. Marnie watches the store on the security monitors and discovers that the infected are building something in the middle of the store.

Break Time

After closing themselves in, the group discovers that Jonathan was lying about bonuses and there will be layoffs after the holidays.  They take the time to argue about this in the middle of the store.

On the way to the back, Archie, played by Michael Jai White, gets the one good fight scene before being taking out by the horde. 

We then get to the backstory part of the movie, where we learn that everyone there wanted to be working somewhere else. Ken got laid off, took the job as a temporary position, and had been there 10 years. Jonathan just wanted to be an authority somewhere.

The group devolves into fighting. There is a lot of interesting dialogue here that shows who these characters really are: sad lonely retail employees. If only the movie was more critical of the structures that created that reality for them.

Almost Quitting Time

Jonathan starts to have a partial change of heart and behave more human. Brian does not. There’s a skirmish with the trainee turned monster, and in the aftermath, a bite mark on Ken’s arm means he gets left behind while the other four try to make a break for it using delivery trucks.

Man, I do love the creature design in this.  It’s a mummy-alien-zombie-hybrid thing. The hide-and-seek segment with Ken and an elder creature in the stock room is just so good, mostly due to the creature actor.

After some shenanigans in the truck, the four survivors end up trapped on the roof as the alien grows out of control, and Jonathan snaps and needlessly sacrifices himself for no reason. He just jumps back into the horde, no weapons, which for some reason works to calm them down for a bit.

Turns out Ken was bit by Brian just so he would get left behind. Brian reveals this to the survivors, who don’t take it well. After getting punched by Marnie, everyone escapes the roof by leaping into a dumpster.  Chris really sells battling his OCD here.

Suddenly Kaiju

The alien egg has hatched into a huge kaiju and broken through the ceiling of the building, which is now on fire. Brian believes he can communicate with the monster. He cannot.  Ken finally emerges from the building, and they plan to get to his car and escape.

As part of their reunion, he drops the following dialogue: “You’re too good for a toy store”.

I have a lot of problems with lines like this. Work is work, and whatever pays your bills should not be looked down on. There’s nothing wrong with wanting a career other than retail, but every worker in every job deserves to make a living wage, and sentiments like “too good for X job” don’t help get us there.

Chris drives a forklift and ends up launching it into what was apparently the kaiju’s weak point, causing it to collapse back into the building and explode. The three co-workers make it to Ken’s car and discuss heading to the safe zones. As they drive away, we can see another kaiju in the background.

So, yeah. Retail workers, right?

As someone who has worked in retail, there were parts of the characterization that felt inspired by real experiences and possibly real co-workers.  There are times when the characters feel nuanced, but those moments are at odds with the tone of the rest of the movie.  It’s inconsistent and that makes the serious moments feel out of place.

It’s also deeply cynical about its subjects.

Everyone here has failed at life somehow, and retail is their punishment.  Ken got laid off and never found something better. Jonathan didn’t fit anywhere else. Brian wanted to be a dentist and failed. Chris has given up and ended up here. 

That’s my biggest issue with this movie, tonally: the implication that the workers are the problem, while also admitting that it’s a never-ending cycle that feeds off new bodies.  You don’t pick a parasite as your creature on accident. 

End Major Spoilers

The Good in Black Friday

There is, however, some really good stuff here too. The creature effects are amazing. I love the look of the human-parasite hybrid, and the creature actors nail the movement.  The script sets up a lot with nice foreshadowing and solid payoffs. Shout out to Dour Dennis for MVP.

The actors are also top-notch. Dennis Sawa is always fantastic, but Ryan Lee as Chris was my favorite. He has a solid character arc, and when given the space to step up and confront Ken and take charge, he portrays Chris’ inner conflict well.

Final Thoughts:

This is a movie that in a post-COVID era wouldn’t happen. Stores don’t open at midnight on Thanksgiving for Black Friday the way they used to. Even though it’s only been a few short years since its release, there is a nostalgic feel to this that despite all my earlier complaints, does leave me with more of a favorable impression. I won’t watch it every year, but I’ll remember how badass the alien-human hybrid looked.

If you’re looking for a horror movie with strong anti-consumer elements, stick with the classics: Day of the Dead, The Stuff.  If you are more in the mood for some light B-movie creature feature goodness, Black Friday has some cool moments and great effects. It’s not super scary, or terribly funny, but it has charm thanks to the actors.

Check out my other Thanksgiving Horror Movie Reviews:

• Thanksgiving
• The Last Thanksgiving