If you are a person who a) watches movies and b) is alive, you have seen a time-loop movie. It feels like they’ve been around forever, and while Groundhog Day didn’t create the time-loop movie genre, it did elegantly set up the tropes as we understand them. 

We meet a protagonist who either has a personal flaw they need to resolve, or they must find a way to escape a dramatic situation. We learn in the second or third loop what moments are important, when they occur, and why they matter. We see the protagonist try different scenarios to escape and fail repeatedly. We see them overcome by despair and crash out. Ultimately, they either learn critical information or make a choice that radically changes how they live, which helps break the loop.

We’ve seen a time-loop movie as a thriller (Source Code), a time-loop movie as a rom-com (Palm Springs), a time-loop movie as a slasher movie (Happy Death Day), a time-loop movie as an action movie (Boss Level), and a time-loop movie as a social justice drama (Two Distant Strangers). Now we have Thanksgiving, Again?!, a time-loop movie as a holiday comedy. Has this been done before? Yes.* Is this version good? Also yes. 

When Tori (Samantha Cevasco) awakens the day before Thanksgiving, she does not roll over and excitedly wake her husband Joseph (Michael Girgenti) with a squeal. She does not skip to the kitchen and, with a heart full of cheer, begin her preparations. She does not say a silent prayer of thanks to whatever spirit provides good cheer during holidays.

Tori is stressed. Her marriage with Joseph is strained** and she dreams of a baby. Yet the pregnancy tests always come back negative. The hits keep on coming when her parents (Regina Macolino and Jeffrey Macolino Sr.) decide not to show up for Thanksgiving at the last possible minute. They mention a headache, yet the reality is that Joseph’s family is coming to the house and…well, they can be a lot. They are:

• Jeffrey (Jeff Macolino), Joseph’s brother, a cheerful, barely-functioning alcoholic and substance abuser.
• Christina (Megan Schulz), Joseph’s older sister, a health fanatic determined to count calories on Turkey Day.
• Her children, the so-over-this Grace (Isabella Macolino), and the mischievous Pasquale (James Macolino).
• Nicole (Madeline Carstens), Joseph’s younger sister, who is determined to replace Tori’s traditional dishes with, um, food that’s slightly more esoteric.
• Her husband Chase (Shaun Grant), who doesn’t care about any of these people or this meal, only football.
• Joseph’s father Jasper (John Maciag), a friendly patriarch with a jittery bladder.
• Joseph’s mother Vincenza (Mary Skinner), who regales the family with tales of people from the neighborhood that have horribly died.

Tori’s holiday is a whirlwind of chaos. Between Joseph getting hammered with his brother, Vicenza’s tales of suburban death, a destroyed childhood heirloom and other sources of tension, Thanksgiving really sucks for Tori. She goes to bed, happy to put it all behind her. Only, she can’t. She discovers she’s reliving Thanksgiving over and over. What will it take for her to escape, and is it even possible? Of course it’s possible, but isn’t it fun to imagine it isn’t? 

Thanksgiving, Again?! is a family affair, and director Jeff Macolino made the film with the involvement of his brother, sister-in-law, parents, kids, and I’m sure some assorted cousins and step-nephews. Sarcasm aside, it’s cool when a family rallies around an independent filmmaker and believes in their vision. Made with a modest budget, Macolino’s film is still nimbly directed. It never looks cheap, and Macolino makes the most of his limited locations. He also knows to keep the pacing moving through most of the comedy, yet taps the brakes to allow time for character development. I also thought it was a smart visual touch when things switch to black and white, alerting us that Tori’s day is reloading. That kind of visual shorthand is the hallmark of a creative director. 

Macolino wrote the screenplay with Joseph Macolino and Victoria Macolino, and the one issue I have with it is that the structure feels wonky. While Tori doesn’t enter the time loop for at least twenty minutes, it feels like a little too much time is spent during the day before Thanksgiving, and not enough time is spent on Thanksgiving setting up the beats that will become familiar in the loop. I applaud the script taking the time to show the character relationships, but another tighter draft that more effectively balanced plot and character would have fixed the issue. Having said that, I give the Macolinos enormous credit. They effectively introduce a large family, show us how everyone feels about everyone else, show us how Tori feels about all of them, and give everyone a solid moment of character development. It’s an impressive amount of plate-spinning, and many writers wouldn’t have the skill to shift focus so effectively. On top of all that, the script has a good sense of humor, and a number of the gags work well.***

Overall, the cast acquits themselves nicely. The smart decision they make is to play character archetypes, like the chatterbox mother or the party boy brother, then give them moments that build them out to three-dimensional characters. I think the only way that strategy works is if there’s a strong central performance anchoring the whole thing. Samantha Cevasco is responsible for that performance. I like the risk Cevasco takes, where for the first half of the film, her Tori goes right up to the edge of unlikability. This is harder for female actors to pull off, since audiences will more often give male actors a pass for playing characters that are mostly detestable, then have a redemption arc.**** What makes her performance so skillful is that Cevasco lets us into Tori. She shows us Tori is frustrated, tired, done with all this, so is it any wonder she’s not perpetually cheerful? On top of that, Cevasco handles the comedy, drama, and emotion necessary for a lead role in a time-loop movie. As far as I can tell, she hasn’t done too many movies, and I hope she does more. 

We live in a deeply dumb time where every movie is either a cinematic gift of mana handed down from Mount Scorsese, or an abomination designed specifically to hurt audiences, children and kittens. Thanksgiving, Again?! doesn’t reinvent the time-loop genre, and it doesn’t crash and burn. It’s a well-made indie comedy that understands why these kinds of movies continue to stick around, and it acquits itself nicely. 

*Christmas Every Day did the same concept back in 1996. 

**At multiple points during the movie, Joseph says variations of, “Tell me what you want me to do” to Tori instead of actually doing something. When women talk about shouldering most of the emotional labor in a relationship, this is what they’re talking about.

***At one point, Jeffrey says, “Isn’t it a shame there isn’t a great Thanksgiving movie?” My dude, Planes Trains and Automobiles is literally right there.

****Spoiler alert, misogyny is real.

Tim Brennan Movie Critic

Tim has been alarmingly enthusiastic about movies ever since childhood. He grew up in Boulder and, foolishly, left Colorado to study Communications in Washington State. Making matters worse, he moved to Connecticut after meeting his too-good-for-him wife. Drawn by the Rockies and a mild climate, he triumphantly returned and settled down back in Boulder County. He's written numerous screenplays, loves hiking, and embarrassed himself in front of Samuel L. Jackson. True story.