This movie has all kinds of potential and just doesn’t deliver the goods the way you really want.
It’s a cool idea: A bunch of strangers awaken–in an upright position, oddly–arranged in a circle, each of them standing in their own red circle. If they move from the red circle, they’re dead. And every two minutes, someone dies anyway. The best part is, they discover they actually have the ability to choose who gets killed next. Great idea, right?
Well, the film’s problems start almost immediately.
First, the way people are killed is kinda dumb. A clearly CGI bolt of electricity, or whatever, shoots from this “eye” at the center of the circle, presumably stopping the heart of the next victim. This is forgivable, however, given the uniqueness of the plot.
But for some damn reason, the writer/directors (Aaron Hann and Mario Miscione) decided to have the characters figure out instantly–right from the start–that they’re able to decide who gets killed next. One of the characters knows immediately that everyone can move there hand a certain way and choose who they want to die. It makes no sense how he figured this out so quickly.
So, rather than having anxiety build as people repeatedly get killed for seemingly no reason, pretty quickly it devolves into a constant argument over who should die next and who should be left standing when it’s all over.
In the most disappointing aspect of the movie, it frequently turns to identity politics and social justice in the arguments. It’s suggested a woman should die for being a lesbian. A black guy suggests all the blacks will be killed off by the whites. A guy suggests the character who doesn’t speak English should be killed. Of course, the banker and the business man are repeatedly shown in a negative light. It’s like the movie tries to appeal to every victim of society, but ends up losing sight of the plot and draining the suspense, ending up not really appealing to anyone.
I will say, however, I liked the surprise ending. I expected to be left hanging, but the movie went a completely different direction, which made for a satisfying conclusion.
It isn’t great, but it’s an interesting watch. You can find it on Netflix and Amazon.