Fatman (2020) Timeline Explained – Every Event in Order

Chris accepts the contract because his workshop faces severe financial trouble. The US government has been cutting subsidies due to declining profits, which stem from children becoming increasingly ruthless and less interested in Christmas. Captain Jacobs offers a two-month contract to manufacture jet components as a way to keep the workshop afloat. After his wife Ruth encourages him, Chris reluctantly agrees, believing it's the only way to save their business and employees.

Foreshadowing: Earlier, the government liaison warns Chris that subsidies will continue to decline in the coming year, making the contract feel like a desperate necessity.

• military contract
• workshop
• subsidies
• financial trouble
• Captain Jacobs

Billy hires the hitman after receiving a lump of coal from Chris on Christmas Eve. The coal symbolizes Billy's cruel and malicious behavior throughout the year, including his tormenting of other children. Billy views this as a humiliating public rebuke and vows revenge. He uses money from his grandmother to hire the assassin, transforming a childhood grievance into a deadly vendetta.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes early on that Billy is described as vile and cruel, with his behavior targeting those he deems inferior.

• Billy Wenan
• hitman
• revenge
• coal
• Jonathan Miller

Miller reveals a personal vendetta rooted in childhood. When he was a child, Miller wrote a letter to Santa requesting a telescope, but Chris gave him coal instead. This childhood disappointment and perceived humiliation festered into decades of resentment, leading Miller to eagerly accept Billy's offer to kill Santa.

Foreshadowing: The parallel between Billy and Miller's motivations, both receiving coal and both reacting with vengeful fury, establishes the film's theme about how perceived injustice fuels violence.

• Jonathan Miller
• childhood vendetta
• telescope
• coal
• resentment

The government reduces funding because profits from Chris's workshop have been declining for years. This decline directly correlates with children becoming more ruthless and less innocent, fewer children truly believe in the Christmas spirit and demonstrate moral goodness. As children's behavior worsens, the economic model supporting Santa's operation erodes, prompting government cuts.

Foreshadowing: The opening establishes that the workshop plays a vital role in the local economy, making the funding cuts a direct threat to North Peak's livelihood.

• subsidies
• government
• funding
• children
• moral decline

Miller infiltrates the workshop after killing US Army soldiers stationed at the farm. While attempting to sneak through, an elf worker raises the alarm, triggering chaos. Miller eliminates the elf and detonates an explosive, completely destroying the workshop. The workers evacuate safely thanks to the early warning, but the building and much of the equipment are obliterated.

Foreshadowing: The timeline shows Miller's rampage begins at the Post Office before moving to the farm, building toward the workshop confrontation.

• workshop
• explosion
• Miller
• attack
• destruction

After Miller shoots Chris in the head during their duel, Ruth takes matters into her own hands. While Miller is distracted or weakened, Ruth fatally strikes Miller, ending his violent spree. Her act of vengeance protects Chris and marks the definitive end of the immediate threat to their family.

Foreshadowing: Ruth has been portrayed as Chris's steadfast supporter throughout the film, making her decisive action consistent with her character.

• Ruth
• Miller
• killed
• vengeance
• shootout

Billy attempts to lace his grandmother's milk with fontanel (a highly toxic substance) to cover up his fraudulent activities. When Chris and Ruth confront Billy, they discover his scheme to murder his elderly grandmother, likely to prevent her from revealing his crimes or to gain full control of his inheritance.

Foreshadowing: Billy's underlying cruelty is established early through his treatment of others, suggesting he would go to extreme lengths to protect himself.

• Billy
• grandmother
• poison
• fontanel
• milk

Chris gives Billy coal because Billy's behavior throughout the year has been exceptionally cruel and malicious. The coal serves as a moral judgment, a traditional consequence for children who have been naughty. Billy targeted a girl named Christine Crawford and engaged in other despicable acts, making him unworthy of gifts.

Foreshadowing: The film establishes early that children's declining morality directly impacts Chris's business, setting up the coal-giving as both moral judgment and economic necessity.

• coal
• Billy
• Christmas
• naughty
• moral judgment

After learning about Billy's plot to murder his own grandmother and witnessing the destruction caused by his refusal to confront cruel children, Chris realizes he has become too passive. He acknowledges his complacency in addressing malevolent youth and vows to take a harder stance against children who engage in cruel behavior, promising that Billy will face serious consequences if he torments anyone again.

Foreshadowing: Chris's initial reluctance to give coal and his acceptance of the military contract both reflect his declining assertiveness, making his transformation meaningful.

• Chris
• Billy
• change
• behavior
• confront