Logline

A greedy land developer is given a chance for redemption when he is haunted by three ghosts on Christmas Eve.

Synopsis

Evan Stanton, a cold-hearted land-developer, argues with his demolition team on Christmas Eve and when he finds out that there are still three people left in the building being demolished, orders his assistant Robert Taylor to call the sheriff. He rejects a Christmas lunch invitation, from his niece, and yells at charity workers. Stanton’s former partner Mark Jacoby, dead for five years, visits him in the form of a ghost after Stanton is accidently locked in the building’s boiler room, minutes after evicting the last of the tenants. Jacoby’s spirit has been wandering since he died as punishment for being consumed with business and not with people while alive. He has come to warn Stanton and perhaps save him from the same fate. He tells him Three Spirits will come to him that night.

Stanton is awakened later by the Spirit of Christmas Past, looking like one of the people he evicted. The Spirit shows Stanton scenes from the past that trace his development from a young boy, lonely but with the potential for happiness, to a young man with the first traces of greed that would cause him to lose the love of his life. Stanton is unmoved.

Awakened by the Spirit of Christmas Present, Stanton is shown several current scenes of Christmas joy and charity; then shows him the Taylor household. The Spirit informs Stanton that unless the future is changed, the Taylor's young son, Jimmy, will die. He also shows Stanton the party at his niece’s house. Finally, in a dark alley, Ignorance and poverty, looking like ragged children appear and the Spirit warns Scrooge to beware of them before disappearing.

The Spirit of Christmas Future soon appears and shows Stanton scenes of people discussing someone's death with no sadness. Stanton does not know, however, who the man is. He learns that Jimmy has died, then finally discovers that he is the one who has died and whose death is not mourned. He begs for a sign that the future can be changed and vows to learn from the past, present, and future to make it happen.

Stanton wakes up in the boiler room, its door open, and learns that it is Christmas Day. In addition to smiling and being friendly to everyone he sees, he takes a large turkey to the Taylors, pledges a sizable donation to the charity workers he previously insulted, and has a wonderful time at his niece’s party. With Taylor’s help, he begins to right some of the wrongs he did to people, starting with finding homes for the three he evicted. Having re-found the woman he was in love with so long ago, he hopes for happiness for himself.