Every year at Christmas I watch a version of _A Christmas Carol_. I usually go with one I already know. This year a new verions showed up and I thought I give this a try, not having seen any trailers before. This was the first year I didn't finish the tale. To my excuse I could say this isn't even the real Christmas Carol because I barely recognize this.
This is a classic you can't just mess with. You don't put in that many garbage and get away with it. You don't change so many things and pat yourself on the shoulders for having done a great job. I won't go into details any more but let me just say this is NOT _A Christmas Carol_. You cannot even call this "The Adult Edit". In my eyes this is just smearing over Dickens legacy.
But maybe it is just a mirror of the times we're living in where you need all that profanities, sex and swearing to get people to look at this tale. If that is the case it would at least explain this version to a certain degree. It wouldn't make it it any better though.

Cover art is a lie, this is not horror or suspense. Wasted my time for three hours on this one.

I love this version, and I feel like people who dislike it went into it expecting the usual formula of obvious redemption and happiness at the end. In my opinion, this one was much more realistic and gritty, and it was all the more excellent for it. It touches on real, plausible things that could easily have happened to drive someone to be like Scrooge. I thought the part with [spoiler]Ali Baba was wonderful, and helped humanize him immensely, the same with the pet mouse.[/spoiler] I admit, the first viewing, the use of the f-word was jarring, but let's face it, the first recorded use of the word was in 1503. People in the 1900s would've been using it too.

Literally awful. I read this book every year. It is a classic. They deviate so much from the book and there is no reason to. I would not recommend anyone to watch it.

A darkly magical realist re–telling that definitely isn't for kids

Very much eschewing the sweetness and levity of previous adaptations, the show takes itself very seriously (perhaps too much so), interrogating not just such standard fare as the exploitative nature of capitalism and the illogicality of certain Christmas traditions, but actually deconstructing the thematic foundations of the novella itself (especially the dénouement). It definitely isn't for everyone, and fans of the original have taken issue with changes such as the reformulation of Scrooge from misanthrope to villain, the depiction of child sexual abuse, the joyless nature of the Cratchit family, the 'reason' why the spirits come to Scrooge, and the relative absence of Scrooge's nephew Fred. And certainly, some of these complaints are justified. On the other hand, the show looks amazing, it's anchored by an extraordinary central performance, and the attempt to ground the whimsical nature of the original in something more akin to psychological realism is, for the most part, very well-handled. Good lord though, the last 30 seconds are spectacularly ill-advised.

For my complete review, please visit: https://boxd.it/1xCTlf

okay so i watched this on christmas night and it was a treat no doubt but the sex nudity violence and swearing makes it uncomfortable to watch around kids but for adults this is a sure fire christmas hit its fantastic no doubt and its truly a beautiful story of forgivness and redemption beautiful story just not for everyone

It was pretty painful to watch.3 hours lost.