The Man With The Bag (2025) – He’s Making a List… And You Don’t Want to Be On It

He used to bring presents. Now he brings payback.

The Man With The Bag (2025) is a dark holiday thriller that reinvents the Christmas mythos into something deliciously twisted and suspenseful. Imagine a blend of The Santa Clause with John Wick vibes, spiked with a noir edge and moral ambiguity. This isn’t a jolly man in red—it’s a ghost from the past with a vendetta, and his sack doesn’t carry toys… it carries justice.

The film centers on Jack Carver (played by Jon Hamm), a former private investigator turned reclusive mall Santa with a secret: he used to be an underground fixer, known on the streets as “The Bagman”—a man who disappeared after one final, bloody Christmas Eve a decade ago. But when a new wave of child trafficking cases rocks his small town, Jack dusts off the boots, the beard, and the bag—and starts crossing names off his own naughty list.

As Jack investigates, we’re pulled into a world of sleazy politicians, corrupt cops, and a tech billionaire running a child-laundering operation behind the cover of a charity. But what makes The Man With The Bag work is its tone: it balances gritty neo-noir with ironic holiday cheer. Jack might fight with candy cane knives, use Christmas lights as tripwires, and interrogate villains in a gingerbread-decorated warehouse—but underneath the stylization, it’s a story about redemption and unfinished business.

Directed by David Fincher (yes, in this imaginary universe), the film oozes atmosphere—icy streets lit by flickering string lights, snow mixing with blood, and flashbacks that slowly reveal Jack’s haunted past. He’s not trying to save Christmas—he’s trying to make it right. And he doesn’t care who has to go down in the process.

The final act is a brutal showdown in a snow-covered church, where Jack confronts the man responsible for his original fall from grace. But this isn’t about revenge—it’s about choosing to fight for something again, even if it's too late to save himself.

The Man With The Bag is a holiday movie for people who hate holiday movies—but still believe, deep down, that the season can bring justice.