Welcome to IndieWire After Darkish, the place we decide a brand new theme for our midnight film programming each month!
Be part of us on Friday nights (and particular events!) to discover among the strangest fringe movies accessible at any hour within the Streaming Age.
The lights are twinkling and the temperature is dropping. However in December 2024, the merry-making vibes are distinctly and resolutely… off. Lean into that discomfort with some Vacation Midnight Film (and TV!) Insanity as we rejoice a bizarre 12 months.
After a number of notably annoying months in present occasions, the pre-Christmas season feels oddly foreboding. That is perhaps a welcome reprieve for these of us who’re often glum through the holidays (simply me?), however the blues can sneak up on anybody. Whether or not you’re battling a bickering household or coping with loneliness, weirdo cinema has the ability to combat your funk with extra funk.
When unsure, clown it out! Feeling unhappy? Watch one thing unhealthy! Significantly, skip this 12 months’s viewing of “It’s a Great Life” — and go full-send into one thing like 1978’s “The Silent Companion” (a sincerely glorious crime thriller!) or MTV’s single Christmas-themed episode of “Jackass” (it’s a number of sledding on… pores and skin). For our lineup, we’ve strung a bunch of wackiness collectively to create a tonally jarring garland as crunchy and bitter as popcorn and cranberries.
All of those titles go for broke with ridiculous core story ideas, and every will depart you with a very completely different feeling. Solely have half-hour to assuage your rage earlier than household dinner? There’s an animated alien invasion for that. In search of a family-friendly rom-com that can essentially change the way you see a Christmas pop hit? Emilia Clarke has you lined. Need thrills? Attempt the beneath 1984 sci-fi hidden gem. Want extra chills? OK, “Higher Watch Out.”
IndieWire After Darkish publishes new midnight film and cult movie suggestions (that’s THE BAIT)… and our spoiler-filled reactions to them (that’s THE BITE)… late on Friday nights.
Blissful Holidays, style followers! Right here’s what we’re watching in December 2024:
“Invader Zim: The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever” (Nickelodeon, 2002)
Created by: Jhonen Vasquez
After Darkish on Friday, December 13
Descend into insanity with this stand-out Christmas particular from an particularly bizarre time in animation. “The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever” was the final installment of the gone-too-soon “Invader Zim” to premiere on Nickelodeon earlier than its sudden cancelation — and all the things on this “How the Grinch Stole Christmas” redux rings true to what made the unique present nice. From an anti-capitalist kicker that’s nonetheless fairly humorous to the priceless promise of Gir in an elf go well with, this impromptu finale doubles as an oddly excellent swan music. Utilizing a misnomer like “worst” right here appears almost as legal because the world-domination/Santa impersonation plot on the heart of Zim’s more and more weird vacation episode.
Feeling Cynical on the Holidays? Attempt Nickelodeon’s ‘Invader Zim’ and ‘The Most Horrible X-Mas Ever’
“Trancers” (1984)
Directed by: Charles Band
After Darkish on Friday, 20
Delightfully schlocky and unusual — to not point out the beginning of a franchise! — “Trancers” is an off-the-beaten-path decide that lets Christmas play out within the background of a wonderfully chunky B-movie. Also referred to as “Future Cop,” Tim Thomerson stars as Trooper Jack Deth (sure, that’s “Deth” — no “a”) on this motion movie concerning the evil psychic Whistler (Michael Stefani) and his rising legion of mind-controlled zombie henchmen often known as “trancers.” Deth will journey again in time to the Nineteen Eighties to go off Whistler’s makes an attempt to assassinate futuristic officers by way of the butterfly impact… by transporting his consciousness into the physique of an ancestor and partying with a completely punk-rock Helen Hunt.
“Final Christmas” (2019)
Directed by: Paul Feig
After Darkish on Christmas Eve
Have fun the fifth anniversary of one in every of cinema’s greatest-ever tributes to taking a preposterous thought approach, approach too far with the overly literal “Final Christmas.” Starring Emilia Clarke and Henry Golding (when she was exiting “Recreation of Thrones” and he had simply damaged out with “Loopy Wealthy Asians”), this fizzy and flirty descent into insanity facilities the London-set love story of Kate — a retail clerk who spends her days dressed as an elf — and Tom — a charitable man hiding a tragic, Wham!-related secret. (Sure, Wham!) Written by Bryony Kimmings and Emma Thompson, who additionally seems as Kate’s mom, this astoundingly darkish rom-com is so startling it can snap even probably the most heartbroken amongst us again to actuality.
“Higher Watch Out” (2016)
Directed by: Chris Peckover
After Darkish on Friday, December 27
The scariest entry in our December lineup by far, “Higher Watch Out” is one other film with a stable shock — however that reveal comes early on. It’s all the things after that makes this script really terrifying, culminating in a singular “Residence Alone” homage you’ll by no means unsee. Moving into, all it is advisable know is {that a} babysitter (Olivia DeJonge), her nerdy 12-year-old consumer (Levi Miller), and his goofy buddy (Ed Oxenbould) are working via some awkward crush-related rigidity when an intruder threatens to break their cozy Christmas night time. Assume “Halloween” meets “You’re Subsequent” with a black-comic “Scream” heart. This bleak choice isn’t for everybody, nevertheless it’s certain to ship shivers down your backbone.
Craving extra suggestions? Attempt our vacation picks from December 2023: