Fatman

On the edge of a snowy town, a weathered Santa named Chris runs a struggling operation that hopes to ride out the season. He relies on rough tricks and stubborn grit to keep customers and debts at bay, staging improvised deliveries and half baked schemes to stay afloat. Across the way, Billy Wenan, a precocious twelve year old who feels unseen, discovers coal in his stocking and decides that the easiest solution is not patience but force. He hires a ruthless professional to take Santa out, convinced that erasing the old myth will finally fix his fractured life. The result is a darkly comic collision of crime drama and holiday fantasy that tests mercy and timing, as danger thickens.

Fatman is directed by brothers Ian and Eshom Nelms, an original screenplay that blends grim humor with pulp fantasy. Made on a 20 million budget, the film stars Mel Gibson as Chris and Walton Goggins as the hit man, with a brisk, practical effects approach.

Critics offered mixed reactions, and audiences gave it a mid range score of 5.6 out of 10 from about 940 votes. The film toys with Christmas folklore, loneliness, and moral choices, placing a grizzled Santa against a lethal pursuer in a satirical crime narrative that aims for dark wit.

Fatman has a limited footprint but has drawn a small following among fans of unconventional holiday fare. The blend of grim humor and action gives it a niche charm that prompts conversations about how Christmas myth can collide with hard edged storytelling and subversive humor.

Worldwide box office gross was about 1.65 million, far below the film’s 20 million production cost. It found a limited audience in select markets and streaming after release, contributing to its reputation as a cultish, offbeat holiday pick that stays with you.