Bad Santa
Willie T. Soke and his dwarf assistant Marcus Skidmore are professional thieves. Every year, Willie disguises himself as a department store Santa Claus and Marcus disguises himself as an elf in order for both of them to rob shopping malls at night, using Marcus' wife Lois as their getaway driver and accomplice. Marcus takes his duty as an elf seriously, but Willie is a sex-addicted alcoholic, and is gradually unable to appropriately perform his Santa duties with children, plus his safe-cracking performance is being affected, much to Marcus' dismay. When they are hired at the Saguaro Square Mall in Phoenix, the vulgar remarks made by Willie shock the prudish mall manager Bob Chipeska, who brings them to the attention of security chief Gin Slagel.
At the mall, Willie is visited by Thurman Merman, a friendly but exceedingly naive and gullible, overweight boy who thinks Willie is really Santa. Thurman is a constant target of bullying by a teenage gang of skateboarders. At a bar, Willie meets Sue, a woman with a Santa Claus fetish, and they begin a sexual relationship. Willie is harassed by a man in the bar, but Thurman intervenes. Willie gives Thurman a ride home, then enters the boy's house where he lives with his senile grandmother. Thurman reveals that his mother died, and his father, Roger, is away "exploring mountains" (he is actually in jail for embezzlement) until next year. Willie tricks Thurman into letting him steal from the house safe and a BMW owned by Roger.
Bob informs Gin that he overheard Willie having sex with a woman in a mall dressing room and Gin starts to investigate. Willie goes to his motel room and sees it being raided, causing him to take advantage of Thurman's naivete and live in his house, much to Thurman's delight. The next day, Marcus gets angry at Willie for taking advantage of Thurman, and states his disapproval of Willie's sex addiction when Willie makes a rude remark about Thurman's grandmother.
Gin's investigation of Willie includes visiting Roger, who indirectly reveals that Willie is staying with Thurman illegally. Gin confronts Willie and Marcus at the mall, and takes them to a bar. There, he reveals that he has figured out their plan, blackmailing them for half of the cut to keep silent. Marcus tries to reason with Gin for a smaller cut, but Gin is adamant. With Willie and Marcus now in a corner, their partnership begins to falter, which is exacerbated further when Willie shows up to work clearly drunk or hungover and destroys the Santa attraction, much to Marcus' and Gin's shock.
Willie attempts to commit suicide by inhaling vehicle exhaust fumes. He gives Thurman a letter to give to the police, confessing all his misdeeds and information about a heist that will take place in the mall on Christmas Eve. Willie notices Thurman's black eye, which persuades him to make an example of the skateboarding bullies. He confronts and beats up the gang's leader, frightening the other members into stopping their acts towards Thurman.
Enraged at Gin for blackmailing him, Marcus and Lois set up a trap for Gin, feigning needing a jump start for their vehicle. Lois hits Gin with the car, then Marcus kills him via electrocution.
As Christmas draws closer, Willie and Thurman set up for the holiday, with help from Sue. On Christmas Eve, when the heist is almost complete, Willie goes to get Thurman a pink stuffed elephant that he had wanted for Christmas. Just as he gets the elephant, Marcus reveals to Willie that he intends to kill him, fed up with his increasing carelessness year after year. Lois tells him to hurry up and kill Willie so they can get away with the money and merchandise. But just as Marcus is about to shoot Willie, the police swarm the trio, tipped off by the letter Willie gave to Thurman. When Marcus opens fire, the police shoot at him and Willie flees. Determined to give Thurman his present, he leads the police on a chase to Thurman's house, ignoring orders to freeze. He is repeatedly shot on Thurman's porch, but survives.
The epilogue is told through a letter from Willie, who is in a hospital recovering. He expresses his gratitude for Thurman in giving the letter to the police and his name was cleared of the robbery, adding that he will be working for the police as a sensitivity counselor. The shooting of an unarmed Santa embarrassed the police, and Sue is granted guardianship over Thurman and his house until Thurman's father is released. Willie also explains that Marcus and Lois are doing time behind bars for their actions, while expressing hope that Roger is wise to avoid the two. Willie ends the letter by telling Thurman that he should be let out of the hospital soon and for him to be ready for his return. When the lead skateboard bully harasses Thurman again, Thurman finally stands up to him by kicking him hard in the crotch and riding away on his bike.
comedy, dark, murder, adult comedy, cult, suicidal, violence, humor, melodrama