Fatman (2020) Is the Christmas Movie for People Burned Out on Christmas
Christmas doesn’t feel the same lately.
It’s quieter. Smaller. Less sparkle, more survival. The decorations are toned down. The trees don’t scrape the ceiling anymore. The mood isn’t joy — it’s endurance.
And that’s exactly why FATMAN (2020) works.
This isn’t a comfort movie. It’s a Christmas movie made for people who still love the holiday — but are exhausted by it.
Burnout Is the New Holiday Mood
We’ve hit the point where Christmas isn’t something you enter — it’s something you get through. The obligation is louder than the magic.
That burnout is why audiences have gravitated toward darker, stranger holiday movies. Not slashers for shock value — but stories where Christmas itself is under pressure.
Fatman understands that pressure.
This Santa Is Still Good — Just Tired
Mel Gibson’s Santa isn’t evil. He’s not a joke. He’s worn down.
His business is failing. The world is less kind. The job doesn’t work the way it used to — but he still shows up.
That’s the key distinction:
This movie doesn’t ask “What if Santa was bad?”
It asks “What if being Santa stopped being rewarded?”
That’s modern Christmas in one sentence.
Why Santa Can’t Be the Villain
Santa slashers don’t work because Santa isn’t a monster — he’s a standard. He represents an ideal of goodness that survives year after year.
Fatman never kills Santa in the red suit, and that restraint matters. The movie knows audiences will tolerate Santa being wounded, tested, and angry — but not erased.
He’s closer to Superman than Michael Myers.
Walton Goggins Makes the Burnout Visible
Walton Goggins’ Skinny Man isn’t just a hitman — he’s consumer frustration made flesh.
He tracks Santa the way adults track joy: methodically, bitterly, convinced it’s hiding from us on purpose.
Without that character grounding the movie in obsession and hurt, Fatman collapses into novelty. Instead, it becomes confrontation.
Why Fatman Belongs in the Modern Christmas Canon
Fatman isn’t here to replace the classics. It exists because the classics can’t carry the entire emotional weight of Christmas anymore.
It’s a movie for:
People who are exhausted by the performance of joy
People who don’t need comfort — just honesty
Final Thought
Fatman doesn’t hate Christmas.
It loves it enough to admit it’s tired.
And in 2025, that might be the most honest Christmas movie we’ve got.
