Spirited

Spirited is a 2022 American Christmas musical comedy film directed by Sean Anders, and written and produced by Anders and John Morris. It is a modern retelling of Charles Dickens's 1843 novella A Christmas Carol and a satire of the various adaptations since. The film stars Will Ferrell, Ryan Reynolds, Octavia Spencer, Sunita Mani, Patrick Page, Marlow Barkley, and Tracy Morgan. In the film, The Ghost of Christmas Present is nearing retirement, which would mean a return to Earth. He sets his sights on an "unredeemable" man named Clint Briggs, who ends up helping the Ghost come to terms with his own past. Spirited was released in select cinemas on November 11, 2022, before its streaming release on November 18, 2022, by Apple TV+. The film received positive reviews from critics, who praised its original songs and the performances and chemistry of Ferrell and Reynolds, but was criticized for its lack of improvement over previous adaptations of the novella. Plot For nearly two centuries, Jacob Marley and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet-to-Come have led a team of afterlife spirits in helping find and redeem one new human soul or "perp" every Christmas ("That Christmas Morning Feelin'"). Present has been eligible for "retirement" for decades but refuses to do so, despite being tempted by the promise of settling down and making up for his own failures in his past life ("Present's Lament").