Black Friday

Black Friday is a 2019 American horror comedy. It stars Jack Quaid, Samara Weaving, Karan Soni, David Tennant, Damon Wayns Jr,, and J. K. Simmons. It follows an employee at a store called Mega-Mart who, along with his co-workers, begins to relive the same day repeatedly.

The film has received positive reviews from critics who praised the originality, performances, and humor. They have favorably compared it to another film involving a time loop, Happy Death Day.

Plot[]

The film begins with a young Sam about to graduate high school. He goes to stage and delivers a speech about how far he's made it, but a teacher rushes to the stage. She takes Sam outside and tells him that his dad has died, causing Sam to burst into tears. Ten years later Sam is at a lowly office job and is called to meet his boss Mr. Ross. Mr. Ross says that Sam has lost his joy and encourages him to apply for a job at Mega-Mart. Megan at first refuses to let Sam apply for Mega-Mart but agrees, on the condition that Sam leaves the second a problem occurs. The two turn on the TV and see a report about Black Friday, causing Sam to suddenly freeze. After Megan yells at him he says that he needs to calm down and leaves. He goes to bed and states that he hopes to survive tomorrow.

The next day Sam wakes up and realizes that he's late for the interview and rushes to Mega-Mart. After being berated by obnoxious employee of the month Jim Sam talks with Ron and gets the job after its revealed that his dad was a security guard. Sam meets hard-working employee Ariel and smartass Ravi, the latter of whom takes Sam on a tour of the store. Sam encounters Flower, an aging pot smoking hippie who just sits on the floor and does nothing, and Jack, a sarcastic janitor who berates Sam for slipping on the floor (which he forgot to put a sign for). After the tour Sam is slightly depressed by Ravi's pessimistic view of the shoppers, but takes the job to honor his dad. The next day after the shift ends Ron announces that Black Friday is coming up, and Sam is assigned cashier duty.

On Black Friday Sam goes to Mega-Mart and is disturbed by the chaos. A customer comes up to Sam and begins coughing blood. The customer falls on the floor, causing Sam to move towards him. However the customer suddenly jumps up and kills Sam. Sam then wakes up, and Megan tells him to get up, just like she did yesterday. Sam checks his phone and discovers that it is Black Friday again. He goes to the store and everything from the previous day repeats. Sam tries to avoid the customer, but notices that the customers are becoming more violent, and soon finds himself being eaten alive, once again waking up on Black Friday. Realizing he's stuck in a time loop he tries to get Ariel to leave with him, but a demon rips out her heart. Sam tearfully watches her die, and becomes enraged when none of the demons attack him. Sam attacks one, causing the rest to brutally attack back, and Sam once again wakes up on Black Friday.

At Mega-Mart Sam is told that Flower is acting weird and talking about demons. Realizing that this might be connected to what he's going through he goes to Flower, who tells him that whats happening is punishment for the sins of the store. Before Sam can ask more he is once again killed by customers. Sam soon realizes that the loop is causing customers to turn into demons, and goes through more loops. During each loop the demons become more and more aggressive, even resulting in Sam being bruised and bloody the next day. Realizing he doesn't have much time left, Sam tells Megan about the events, but she brushes them off. Sam realizes that Megan doesn't care about him, and leaves her.

Sam goes to Mega-Mart, only to see it in chaos as demons kill everyone in sight. Sam goes up to Ravi and Ariel, who reveal that they are now going through the loop as well. Ariel says that Clarence, the security guard, and Flower have been killed, and that their only hope is to go to Ron's office. Jim, now crazed, tries to stop them, but he is killed by Jack. After much struggle Sam, Ariel, Ravi, and Jack make it to Ron's office. As they make it Sam reveals why he's traumatized by Black Friday: his father was killed during a Black Friday riot. The group make it to Ron's office and discover that the store is cursed, thus causing the loop. Ron explains that this has been going on for years, with the only way to break it being to destroy the source. Ariel hypothesizes that blowing up the store should be enough to end the loop and Ron reluctantly volunteers. He walks outside but is immediately attacked by demons. Before dying he confesses to Sam that Sam's dad was actually killed in a time loop. Not wanting the others to befall the same fate, Sam dons the explosives and leads Ravi, Ariel, and Jack out of Mega-Mart. Now alone in a store full of demons Sam sets off the explosives, blowing up Mega-Mart and killing himself and the demons inside.

Sam finds himself in a void, where he is greeted by his father. Sam's dad tells Sam that he's proud of him, and that something else awaits him, before writing down an address. Sam suddenly wakes up and discovers that it is in fact the day after Black Friday. Relieved to see everything back to normal Sam goes to the address his dad gave him, and sees that is a coffee shop. Sam goes inside and sees Ariel, Ravi, Jim, Flower, Jack, and Clarence sitting at a booth. Jack tells him that they all survived due to Sam's sacrifice, and Ariel and Sam kiss. Ariel whispers something into his ear. Sam, Ravi, and Ariel arrive at the burned down wreckage of Mega-Mart, where Sam gives a heartfelt speech about his dad, thanking him about what he's done and how he's now proud of himself. The group leaves and the film ends.