The Elf (2016)

A supernatural creature kills a toymaker in the midst of sewing shut the mouths of several children. The creature steals a list of names from the toymaker's possession. Years later, Victoria and her troubled fiancé Nick visit an antique shop in Nick's strangely deserted hometown on Christmas Eve. Victoria finds the toymaker's empty ledger.

Nick discovers a strange elf doll. The sentient elf doll brands Nick with a supernatural sigil before running away. Nick pockets a 'Naughty' list of names after reading a warning about the doll's curse and an ability to remove one name from the list. From a shop window, Victoria spots a man shoveling snow outside even though there is no snow on the ground. On their drive to Nick's family's former home, Nick stops to help a man in a car crash, but the injured man merely behaves incoherently. The couple is concerned to find the immobile elf doll waiting for them at the house. Nick reiterates that he never wanted to celebrate Christmas because of a childhood trauma. Victoria repeats her insistence that they spend the holidays with family. Nick watches Victoria's name appear on the list. Victoria has to rescue Nick when he becomes entranced by a traumatic flashback to being a boy. Nick moves to leave the house, but is caught off guard by the surprise arrival of Victoria's father John, mother Stephanie, sister Tiffany, brother Jeremiah, and grandparents. Victoria's grandparents leave to run an errand. The elf doll kills them in their car. Nick and Jeremiah search outside when the grandparents do not return. Jeremiah unexpectedly attacks Nick, claiming that John directed him to do so. The elf doll kills Jeremiah. John reveals to Victoria that he learned Nick killed his father and stabbed his mother in a Christmas massacre when he was nine-years-old. Victoria still refuses to acknowledge her dad's concern about marrying Nick. Nick returns to the house raving about the doll murdering Jeremiah. Because of his troubled mental history, everyone assumes Nick is delusional and homicidal. Carolers come to the door. The family is shocked when the elf kills the singers with a string of Christmas lights. Nick privately reveals to Victoria that his toymaker grandfather was feared throughout town as the keeper of children's souls. Supernatural creatures initiated a wild hunt led by an evil demagogue whose objective was to take these souls to bring into the underworld for sport. Townspeople became cursed unless they bargained to help the creatures. Nick realizes his grandfather sealed children's souls inside the dolls. The power goes out in the house. While investigating the breaker, the elf doll attacks John. John eventually stumbles back to his family and later dies in Victoria's arms. The doll attacks Victoria's mom Stephanie. Stephanie takes a phone call from Victoria's friend Sky and warns Sky that a killer is after everyone. The doll kills Stephanie. Nick tells Victoria he can save one name from the list, further speculating that the wild hunt is meant to finish off the descendants from the toymaker's list. Nick realizes that the townspeople encountered earlier were acting weird because they have child minds trapped in aging bodies. Because Nick's grandfather didn't complete the list, Nick is next to die. The doll attacks Victoria and Nick. When Victoria turns on him, Nick discovers that Victoria is also a former townsperson who knew about the curse all along. Victoria tries to get Nick killed so that her name can be the one spared from the list. Nick and Victoria fight over the list. The doll ultimately attacks Nick and pulls him away. Sky arrives at the house to rescue Victoria. Before driving away, Sky shocks Victoria by presenting an elf doll as a gift.