Horror Watch 2025 - Day 18 - A Nasty Piece of Work (2019)

  This is actually part of a horror anthology series called Into the Dark produced by Blumhouse for Hulu, with each episode centering on a different holiday.  I didn't know that when I clicked on it.  I'm still counting it.  Content warning:  blood

Ted (Kyle Howard) is desperate to get ahead at his venture capitalist firm but his boss, Steven Essex (Julian Sands, RIP), is almost impossible to please.  So Ted jumps at the invitation to Essex's home for a Christmas party, only to discover that Essex also invited Ted's rival, Gavin (Dustin Milligan), and is treating the evening as a fucked up interview for an executive position.  As the games get nastier and bloodier, Ted has to decide the cost of success he is comfortable paying.

Sands and Molly Hagan are absolutely, gloriously evil as the jaded, rich Essexes.  If you liked Who's Afraid of Virginia Woolf but thought it needed more gunshot wounds, this is for you.  Milligan again shows some excellent comedic timing, as does Natalie Hall.  The dialogue is nice and sharp, if a little predictable, and the end is a satisfying inevitability.  All in all, a solid Christmas horror comedy.  It is episode three of season 2  of Into the Dark if you are looking, streaming on Hulu.