Sophia Takal’s
Black Christmas is a horror movie, of course, but at its core is the bond between college sorority sisters Riley Stone (Imogen Poots) and Kris Waterson (Aleyse Shannon), who are endlessly supportive of each other but also not hesitant to call each other out if necessary. These two women represent two sides of Takal’s artistic voice in
Black Christmas, which is a loose remake of Bob Clark’s 1974 proto-slasher classic of the same name and it’s this relationship that makes the 2019 film something special. Both Takal’s film (co-written by April Wolfe) and Clark’s original spring from the same basic premise, with sorority sisters stalked by a mysterious killer over winter break on a college campus.