Christmas at the Kringles: The Director and Cast Talk Their Horror Comedy Twist on a Hallmark Movie
Stars Rachel Bilson, Arden Myrin, Rob Riggle, and director Kevin Lewis (Willy’s Wonderland) break down their zany Yuletide horror film
by Lana Thorn 28 October 2026
Briarcliff Entertainment
From The Nightmare Before Christmas to Silent Night, Deadly Night, there is a longstanding tradition of mixing horror and festive cheer as sacred as hanging stockings above the fireplace. For his contribution to this tradition, high-concept B-movie specialist Kevin Lewis, known for the raucous Nicolas Cage vehicle Willy’s Wonderland, had a simple plan: tell the story of a cult-like, Christmas-obsessed family, and fill it with a who’s who of seasoned comedy actors.
The resulting film is Christmas at the Kringles, a wild horror comedy about a big-city couple on the rocks, Mark (Ron Livingston of Office Space) and Julie (The O.C. star Rachel Bilson) Severson, who move with their young son (Jack Jewkes) to the suburbs across from an enigmatic family who celebrate Christmas 24/7, 365. But as the pair start spending more time with the unsubtly named Nick (Thomas Lennon, Reno 911!) and Carol (Arden Myrin, Insatiable) Kringle, concerned citizens including a belligerent mall Santa (Rob Riggle, Step Brothers) and an Only Fans-addicted neighbour (Donald Faison) rush to warn the Seversons that the Kringles aren’t the holly jolly family that they seem to be.
For director Kevin Lewis, the idea for the film came from a source close to home. “It was my wife’s fascination with Hallmark movies,” he says with a smile, calling Phantasmag ahead of the film’s release. “I’m like, Man, you could be watching good stuff like Lawrence of Arabia and The Godfather.” But the saccharine charm of those holiday films proved to be a perfect framework for his demented brand of genre films. “I love taking this holiday and adding a twist to it. I also love the blend of horror and comedy, so it was all about walking that tightrope and then adding that Christmas flavour in.”
The Kringles (Arden Myrin and Thomas Lennon) lure Julie Severson (Rachel Bilson) into their Christmas-crazed household. Courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment.
It was exactly that blend that attracted Rachel Bilson, the actress known for The O.C. and currently starring in another classic series with a guest role on Scrubs. “I heard ‘Christmas horror comedy’, and I was like, Oh, my gosh, I’ll absolutely do it — I don’t even need to read the script,” she says on a call with her co-star Arden Myrin. “Ron Livingston and Rob Riggle were attached, and then it all just kept coming together with Arden and Tom Lennon joining. So I said, Okay, my answer is already yes, but fine, I’ll read the script.”
The project was likewise an easy yes for Myrin, who was suggested for the role of the sweet-but-clearly-psycho Carol Kringle by cinematographer Brandon Cox after the pair had collaborated on Season 1 of the Netflix comedy Free Bert. She was especially excited by the prospect of working with Bilson after the pair had met months earlier on the latter’s hit podcast Broad Ideas. “I heard they were making an offer to Rachel, who I’d fallen in love with on her podcast, and I was like, I need to make this movie.”
The Seversons’ neighbour, Daryl (Donald Faison), clashes with Nick Kringle (Thomas Lennon). Courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment.
That real-life closeness would directly impact the relationship between their characters in the film. “From day one, I decided that Carol just wants to be Julie’s best friend,” Myrin laughs. “For no reason, she hates Mark and loves Julie. They allowed me to follow that instinct and kept it in the movie.” Bilson is effusive as she praises Myrin’s improv instincts, which included Carol repeatedly insisting that she wants to braid Julie’s hair. “She’s a comedic genius. I could not keep a straight face the entire movie.”
For Rob Riggle, the SNL alum who’s been a mainstay on the comedy scene with roles in films like The Hangover and 21 Jump Street, a big positive to taking the job was the chance to play an eclectic role best described as a rough-edged action-hero mall Santa. “My favourite part is that he's kinda limitless,” he says of his unnamed character who initially clashes with the Seversons before rescuing them from the Kringles’ clutches. “He's a good guy, he's a bad guy — he might even be supernatural.”
Rob Riggle as the film’s rough-edged mall Santa. Courtesy of Briarcliff Entertainment.
There was also the opportunity to jump into some stunt work, which included going toe-to-toe with Beverly D’Angelo of the Vacation films. “I don’t get many opportunities to fly around the set and get into fights, and getting into a fight with Hollywood legend Beverly D’Angelo, that was iconic.| And Christmas at the Kringles isn’t the only horror film this year for Riggle, who recently starred in the spider creature feature Don’t Move. “It’s inevitable when people are curious,” he says, reflecting on the rise of horror comedy mash-ups. “What happens if we put chocolate and peanut butter together? With Christmas at the Kringles, you take a holiday movie and a horror movie, and you put them together, and then you sprinkle some comedy on top, and you end up getting what I consider a very entertaining film.”
Lewis, who has built his career on that blend of genres, has his own theories for their compatibility.“People laugh when they’re insecure, or they’re awkward, right?” he reasons. “People laugh on a rollercoaster. There are a lot of emotional responses that make people laugh, and I think horror is an emotional response. When you get scared, you might laugh to get over it. That's the reason why Evil Dead 2 is one of my favourite movies of all time. There’s a bloodbath in that movie, but it's so funny because it's so overdone. Horror is an escape, but then you throw comedy in it, and it becomes a whole other kind of escape. You have the best of both worlds.”
Christmas at the Kringles opens in US theatres on Friday, October 30th.