Unholy Night is currently my favourite surprise film of 2026. I went into this Canadian horror comedy with fairly limited expectations – it follows a zombie outbreak at an Italian family Christmas dinner – and came out genuinely impressed at the effectiveness of its direction and the canny intelligence behind its script. At its funniest, the film is a riot. It also finds room for some original ideas, character drama, and a pitch-perfect treatment of Italian family dynamics. My ethnic background lies in Scotland, but I married an Italian, and Unholy Night’s observations, characters, and behaviours are sensational.

The film is the feature debut of writer/director Michael Gabriele. It sees tired protagonist Gino (Marc Bendavid) attempt to survive a family Christmas in suburban Canada surrounded by critical parents, argumentative siblings, and the unexpected arrival of ex-girlfriend Rene (Shailene Garnett). Dinner is interrupted by the arrival of the family’s dead “nonna”, considerably more homicidal than when she was alive, and it becomes clear that the entire neighbourhood has been subjected to the same supernatural curse.

If you know, you know: Gabriele’s film is packed with the sorts of cultural observances and fine details that are immediately obvious to anybody connected to the Italian diaspora. It infuses the film with a surprisingly warm streak of comedy, playing stereotypes with affection rather than mockery, but at the same time keeping such elements placed and played in a way that feels more universal than specific. It also provides a rather distinctive and original aspect to the film; one that allows Gabriele to lift it beyond a very crowded genre and find a niche all of its own.

The more horrific elements – it is, despite some variances, a classic zombie outbreak – are graphic enough to have impact while not being so egregious as to turn off a broader horror audience. There is a beautiful aesthetic to the undead here – particularly their odd, hollow-eyed stares – and as with the Italian references it helps to make Unholy Night its own distinctive production. It also balances genre very well. One can anticipate the comedy elements and the horrific ones, but there is also some rather nicely played material on parents and their children, and how families fight, and how people can carry regret around with them for years without action. Gabriele juggles these genres very well, and it turns Unholy Night into one of those films that genuinely grows better as it goes.

Bendavid and Garnett lead a strong ensemble cast that handles the shifts in tone very well. The film’s narrative asks a lot from them: not simply to be funny when required, but also serious and heartfelt in differing ways. One winds up caring for each member of Gino’s family despite their various faults and quirks, and it becomes an impressive balancing act when it becomes clear not all of them will survive to the end.

It is not faultless, of course. A surprising climax feels a little under-explained, and while it works phenomenally in emotional terms it does feel as if one or two key moments somehow got left out in the edit. Altogether it feels like a minor flaw, or at least nothing like a dealbreaker, considering the strength of the film as a whole. This film struck an unexpected chord with me. I look forward to revisiting it in future.

Unholy Night had its world premiere at the Fantasia Film Festival on 25 July 2026 and will screen again on 27 July. For more information, click here.