Humbled by visions of his past and future, Ebenezer Scrooge stands a changed man, begging the world for a chance at redemption. If there were any doubts about the symbolic purposes of Ebenezer – an adaptation of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol that serves as Hollywood's blithe "welcome back" to Johnny Depp – rest assured: the subtext cannot help but claw its way to the surface. Depp, once a cemented A-lister, has been absent from the American film industry for eight years following domestic abuse claims made by his ex-wife, Amber Heard. He denied the allegations, and sued for defamation – having previously lost a separate lawsuit against The Sun, over being branded a "wife beater". Depp ultimately emerged from the Heard trial with a ruling in his favour. But it was victory at a cost: a long, exposing televised ordeal that dragged his reputation through the mud.
