Would You Rather (2012) has so much potential, the plot idea is actually so creative and original that I was excited to watch. Unfortunately the acting and editing did not really give me what I wanted but I was intrigued by the narrative.
Iris (Brittany Snow) and seven desperate people find themselves in the middle of a sadistic game of would you rather, all in need of money the host challenges them to play in order to win a large sum of money each time they win.
Simple right? The narrative sounds easy and simplistic but it is new and original. That is what made it so appealing to me, nobody has experimented with a game like structure to a horror movie especially a game that everybody in the world has played some time or another. The approach slightly reminded me of The Purge (2013), primarily because both films could have been filmed and edited so much better. This film felt slow and slightly boring at times even though these people are practically slowly killing themselves, it did not feel like a clever choice either. I did not think the director had specifically chosen to make the film feel long and tiring like the real events happening, It just felt tasteless and lazy rather than thought through.
I would have enjoyed so much more if the editing was quick and if music played more and if the host was potentially hidden so the audience did not know who was behind everything, the key to making a horror movie is telling the audience nothing. The audience needs to stay in the dark, they need to be encouraged to find out what it going to happen rather than knowing exactly what is going to happen. This film felt so long because I knew exactly what was going to happen, there was no tension at all and there was no feeling towards any of the characters. I was not told their stories or given time to identify or like any of them, it was tedious and I did not enjoy my time watching.
The acting was average, I am a fan of Julian (Robin Taylor) as an actor and I know he is talented but then again he was only in the film for about 2 seconds. I’ve personally never rated Iris (Brittany Snow) as an actress, but I thought she gave a watchable performance and she worked with what she was given.
Overall, I just felt disappointed after watching. This film could have been amazing if more time was spent building up the tension and introducing us to characters rather than just diving into the deep end straight away. The storyline is so creative that it just upsets me to see the film made so badly, I hope somebody reincarnates this movies and brings in some real actors and actually makes me feel scared! Oh and the ending was incredibly predictable, if you don’t call that when you watch this film then i’ll be shocked.
I was impressed by the story but not much else.
4/10 probe points
Comments