Warning: major spoilers for 2024’s Red One.
Red One brings together action, comedy, fantasy, and the Christmas spirit in a story about Santa Claus’ kidnapping and his rescue, with a heartwarming message underneath all the action scenes. Directed by Jake Kasdan, Red One stars Dwayne Johnson as Callum Drift, head of the North Pole’s Enforcement Logistics and Fortification (ELF) and thus head of security for Santa Claus (J.K. Simmons). On the day Callum hands in his request to retire after Christmas, Santa Claus is kidnapped, and Callum is determined to find him – but he can’t do it alone.
With the help of Zoe (Lucy Liu), head of the Mythological Oversight and Restoration Authority (MORA), Callum teams up with Jack O’Malley (Chris Evans), a mercenary white-hat hacker with a lot of personal struggles, mostly with his son, Dylan. Together, Callum and Jake find out that the one behind Santa Claus’ kidnapping is Gryla (Kiernan Shipka), the winter witch, and she plans to end Christmas and the North Pole. With the help of an unlikely ally, Callum and Jake find Santa Claus and save Christmas, the North Pole, and the whole world right on time for the holidays.
How Santa Claus Is Rescued In Red One
Santa Claus’ Rescue Is The Whole Point Of Red One
On Christmas Eve, and right after Callum leaves Santa Claus alone, a black ops team led by a mysterious woman breaks into the North Pole and kidnaps Santa. With the help of land and air transports, the team misleads Callum and successfully leaves with Santa Claus. As Zoe finds out, Jack is only the final piece in a chain that leads to the kidnapper, and so he and Callum travel to Aruba to confront the broker who hired Jack. The broker, Ted (Nick Kroll), reveals that he works for Gryla.
Callum suspects Gryla is working with Santa’s estranged brother, Krampus (Kristofer Hivju), and so he and Jack visit him. It’s revealed that Krampus was the creator of the Naughty List and is also Gryla’s ex-lover, but despite all that, he isn’t involved in Santa’s kidnapping. After Gryla traps Jack and Dylan in one of her magic snow globes, Zoe finds Jack thanks to the tracker she put on him, and she and Callum learn that Santa never left the North Pole, and Gryla’s lair is underneath the North Pole.
While Callum and Zoe rescue Jack, Dylan, Mrs. Claus (Bonnie Hunt), and the rest of the imprisoned staff of the North Pole, Gryla and her sons escape with Santa as they are ready to set her plan into motion – but they need Santa’s powers to ride the sleigh. Luckily, Callum and Jack stop her and fight her while Santa remains unconscious, and when she transforms back into a troll, Krampus arrives with some backup. During the fight, Santa recovers and helps them defeat Gryla, while also making amends with his brother.
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With Gryla no longer a threat, the whole team at the North Pole rushes to get everything ready for the Christmas run, and Santa Claus invites Jack and Dylan to join them. Not only are Santa Claus, the North Pole, and Christmas saved, but Santa also gets a chance to fix his relationship with Krampus.
Gryla’s Plan & Defeat In Red One Explained
Gryla Is A Mythological Character
Gryla is not only the winter witch but also a very ancient troll who can take the shape of anyone she wants. Gryla also has many, many sons, all of them shapeshifters, which makes it easier for all of them to infiltrate the North Pole (one of them even posed as Mrs. Claus to try to mislead Callum, but he made a big mistake when talking about cookies). Gryla is very powerful, so much so that she can track anyone who says her name and send her henchmen after them, as she does when Jack says her name in Aruba.
What Gryla wants is to get rid of everyone on the Naughty List and imprison them forever, and for that, she needs a magical artifact and a machine in Santa’s old workshop underneath the North Pole. Said artifact is the “glaskafig”, a magical snow globe that imprisons whoever touches it – but because the Naughty List is very long, she uses a toy-duplicating machine in Santa’s old workshop to create thousands of those magic snow globes. The next step in Gryla’s plan is to deliver the snow globes to every person on the Naughty List using Santa’s sleigh.
Exactly why Gryla has the strong desire to get rid of the people on the Naughty List despite being a troll and a witch isn’t explained, so it’s just assumed that she is simply evil. As explained above, Gryla is stopped by Jack and Callum, who throw her off the sleigh, but she returns to fight them now in her true, giant troll form. Krampus arrives and attacks her before trying to reason with her, but she attacks him back instead.
It isn’t until Santa recovers and regains his magic that he calls his reindeer to attack Gryla, making her fall into the pool of magic snow globes she created, thus trapping her in one of them. Zoe takes the snow globe where Gryla is trapped, which will be safely kept by MORA.
Why Callum Wanted To Retire (& Why He Decides To Stay)
Callum Drift Had A Very Action-Filled “Final” Day At Work
As mentioned above, Callum is preparing to retire from his job at the North Pole after centuries of working for Santa Claus. Callum has a very close and special relationship with Santa and Mrs. Claus, and the reason isn’t revealed until the end of Red One, with Callum simply mentioning throughout the movie that he has “lost it.” What’s mentioned throughout Red One is the increased bad behavior in the world, which has resulted in a longer Naughty List. At the end of Red One, during the Christmas run, Callum watches Jack and Dylan sharing this experience together, with Jack regaining his wonder.
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Callum sees Jack as a kid again, and that’s what he had lost: the ability to see the good and wonder in people.
Jack had been on the Naughty List for a long time, which made him a target of Gryla’s plan, but the whole experience of Santa’s rescue, fixing his relationship with Dylan, and going on the Christmas run with Santa prompts a major shift in him. Callum sees Jack as a kid again, and that’s what he had lost: the ability to see the good and wonder in people, which was a consequence of his disillusionment with the increased bad behavior in the world. Realizing there’s still good and hope in the world, Callum decides to stay with Santa Claus.
How Jack Saved Himself & Dylan In Red One
Jack Got Closer To His Son In Red One
Parallel to the rescue of Santa Claus is the storyline of Jack and his son Dylan. Jack tells Callum that he was never married to Dylan’s mother, but that doesn’t mean he doesn’t have a responsibility as his father. However, Jack struggles with being a father, let alone a good one, and doesn’t really connect with Dylan, so much so that the latter doesn’t know how to talk to him. Knowing that kidnapping Dylan will stop Callum and Jack’s mission to find her, Gryla sends a snow globe to Dylan and one to Jack, with the former finding it first.
Dylan and Jack have a heart-to-heart conversation about their relationship, which softens them and makes them nicer.
Thinking it was some sort of gift to apologize for not attending his school event, Dylan angrily calls Jack and shows him the snow globe, leading to him being trapped in it and taken to Gryla’s lair. Jack takes the snow globe sent to him so he can be with Dylan, and their snow globes are placed next to each other. Dylan and Jack have a heart-to-heart conversation about their relationship, which softens them and makes them nicer, thus redeeming themselves and writing them out of the Naughty List. This makes their snow globes break, and they rejoin Callum and Zoe on the rescue mission.
The Real Meaning Of Red One Explained
Red One Is All About Family & Wonder
Underneath all the action sequences and funny moments, Red One is a story about family – and different types of families. The most obvious one is Jack and Dylan’s story, who, unfortunately, had to go through the experience of being imprisoned in a snow globe so they could spend quality time together and open up to each other. There’s also the estranged relationship between Santa Claus and Krampus, as they are complete opposites when it comes to Christmas and who and how should be rewarded for their good and bad deeds.
Callum’s story is also a family one, as his family are his ELF colleagues, the Clauses, and pretty much everyone at the North Pole.
Although Red One doesn’t go into details about Santa and Krampus’ relationship, at least they acknowledge each other after defeating Gryla, which is their way of making amends. Callum’s story is also a family one, as his family are his ELF colleagues, the Clauses, and pretty much everyone at the North Pole. It’s unknown what Callum would have done after retiring, but he would surely have been quite lonely. Jack also learned that he doesn’t have to isolate himself and burn bridges, and it’s safe to open up to people and new experiences.
How Red One Sets Up A Sequel
Could There Be More Of Callum & Jack?
Despite giving every main character a satisfying ending, Red One leaves the door slightly open for a sequel. Although Gryla was defeated, she’s ultimately a troll and powerful witch, so it’s hard to believe she will stay in her snow globe at MORA until the end of times – plus, she surely still has many more sons who can plan her rescue and escape. There are also Callum and Jack, an unlikely but very effective team thanks to their combined talents and skills, so they could go on more holiday-themed missions together for MORA, and not necessarily for Christmas.
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The North Pole can also go through many more problems and challenges besides Santa Claus’ kidnapping. Many things can go wrong in a place as big, busy, and important as the North Pole, especially once the holiday season begins. There’s also the big question of what they all do once Christmas is over, which would make for an interesting sequel to Red One.
After Santa Claus is kidnapped, the North Pole’s Head of Security (Dwayne Johnson) must team up with a notorious bounty hunter (Chris Evans) in a thrilling, globe-spanning mission to save Christmas. This action-packed holiday adventure mixes comedy and festive magic, with an ensemble cast that includes Lucy Liu and J.K. Simmons.
- Director
- Jake Kasdan
- Release Date
- November 15, 2024
- Cast
- Dwayne Johnson , Chris Evans , J.K. Simmons , Lucy Liu , Kiernan Shipka , Bonnie Hunt , Kristofer Hivju , Nick Kroll , Wesley Kimmel , Mary Elizabeth Ellis , Wyatt Hunt , Lanz Duffy , Marc Evan Jackson , Ashleigh Domangue , Cody Easterbrook , Jon Rudnitsky , Morla Gorrondona , Jenna Kanell , Rod Maxwell , Fedor Steer , Octavia Grace , Matthew Zuk , Cora Kass , Ahmad Ghafouri , Jeff Chase
- Runtime
- 123 Minutes