The Lodge (2019)

 **This post contains spoilers**

The Story- Six months after pushing to finalize a divorce from his wife, Laura (Alicia Silverstone), Richard (Richard Armitage) plans a getaway during the Christmas season with his new fiancée, Grace (Riley Keough), his son, Aiden (Jaeden Martell), and his daughter, Mia (Lia McHugh). The trip to the family’s lodge gets off to a rocky start, and things take a bizarre turn for the worst as time passes.

Grace is forced to deal with her troubled past and a series of strange occurrences, while juggling the responsibilities for taking care of a disgruntled Aiden and Mia. Richard is the only person, who can ease the tensions between Grace, Aiden, and Mia, but there’s also a chance the group is experiencing an unprecedented disturbance…..

My Thoughts- Is Grace a bad person? Well, of course not. The problem is, she’s stuck in an impossible situation trying to earn acceptance and trust from two kids, who clearly hate her. Riley Keough delivers a strong and sympathetic performance, full of emotion and anger, when the situation calls for it. 

Early on in the movie, you can clearly see Grace is TRYING to do everything she can do to carefully ease her way into Aiden and Mia’s lives. Grace is sincerely apologetic, when she unknowingly puts on Laura’s beanie. But on the other side of that, you can understand Grace’s need to stand up for herself, to be an authority figure, because she has to show Aiden and Mia that she’s not a pushover.

It’s hard to not feel any sympathy for Grace, when the story takes a dark turn towards the end. The flashbacks from Grace’s past in the cult, with her father as the leader tells the story of a woman, who truly suffered through hell. To say she didn’t have a normal childhood would be an understatement. Richard, Aiden, and Mia? They were all supposed to be her second chance at happiness and a normal life. More kudos to Riley Keough, because she really drives home the idea of this kind woman, who didn’t deserve what happened to her at the lodge.

Aiden and Mia? You also have to understand, where they’re coming from. Two kids, who deeply love their mother, so when they look at Grace, all they’re going to see is a soulless home-wrecker, who destroyed their family. You could say Aiden is the stronger one in the duo, while Mia, the younger sibling, clings to her toy doll that resembles Laura. 

Jaeden Martell hits all the right notes, as the angsty and stubborn teenager, who flat out refuses to give Grace a fair chance. Lia McHugh does a good job, as the young daughter, who’s still a vulnerable kid at heart, following her older brother’s lead for guidance and a shoulder to lean on. The dynamic between Aiden and Mia is one of the bigger highlights in the movie. They share a tight big brother/little sister bond. They’re a team, and they rely on each other, for good and bad reasons.

The Lodge cleverly fits the pieces of the puzzle for the family drama together, because you can clearly see and understand everyone’s point of view here. Grace wanting to earn her way into a family. Richard trying his best to please Aiden, Grace, and Mia, while he tries to embrace his own happiness with Grace. Aiden and Mia rebelling against Grace replacing their mother, and a heartbroken Laura, who’s not ready to move on with her life.

It’s a prank! An elaborate and cruel prank, but still a prank. Hiding the food, the dead phones, hiding Grace’s medication. Everything was a carefully planned out and detailed setup to drive Grace crazy. Well, it worked. Grace snapped, but it’s obvious Aiden and Mia didn’t expect a few big setbacks.

The Lodge’s finale is genuinely jaw-dropping. The tables turn so quickly, escalating to one violent and gruesome event after another, starting with the sight of Grace’s dog, frozen to death with his tongue still sticking out. Aiden and Mia weren’t as smart as they thought they were. Assuming Aiden was the mastermind, all the careful planning wasn’t enough to overcome the fact that two kids were in way over their heads. Triggering Grace’s past traumas was too much to overcome. 

The final scene, where everyone’s around the table, including Richard’s corpse is truly an eerie and disturbing sight. Covered mouths with duct tape and “sin” written across them for a callback to Grace’s life in her father’s cult, and Aiden and Mia are visibly terrified, while Mia plans to kill them and herself. In the end, Grace’s demons won the battle, and the two demons in the lodge got the best of her.

The final shot of the loaded gun raises so many questions. Did Aiden and Mia manage to run away? Did Grace finish everyone off? Or, was there a struggle between Grace, Mia, and Aiden before she had a chance to do anything? Good call to abruptly end the movie in that spot. A scene that leaves you with a sinking feeling, because no matter how you spin it, there’s no outcome that provides a truly happy ending. 

The Lodge also works as an unconventional Christmas horror film. If we’re making comparisons, it’s not as Christmassy as the Silent Night, Deadly Night films, the Black Christmas remake, or Krampus (2015). The Lodge has a far more serious tone compared to those films. 

Still, it’s set during the Christmas season. Before the story takes a deep dive into the dark side, the lodge is decorated for Christmas, and you’ll see Christmas presents. It’s not festive, and there’s no real cheeriness before the chaos starts. The Lodge slowly injects a crippling poison into of the bigger holidays with bitterness, tension, loss, and family drama. A deep sadness hits at a certain point, because maybe there’s a chance a good and happy Christmas celebration could’ve healed any open wounds. 

Religion plays a big part in the story here. Grace never had a chance. She was corrupted at an early age by her father, Aaron (Danny Keough), a fanatical cult leader. For Grace, religion is the boogeyman that just won’t go away, a leech sucking her soul dry. Brainwashing, and towards the end, religion is used as a guilt tripping mechanism and a scare tactic on both sides. 

The found-footage from Grace’s life in the cult and the mass suicides are a prime example for how religion can be turned into something evil, or used as a deadly weapon in the wrong hands. But there’s also a somber side for religion in The Lodge. A distraught Mia can’t handle the thought of her mother not making it to heaven, because she committed suicide. The Lodge goes with the thought of a loved one not being able to experience eternal peace and happiness as a crippling blow, that’s tough to recover from.

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s work behind the camera is admirable. So many little nuances and subtle storytelling with the shots of the black balloons floating into the sky, Richard touching Grace’s leg and Aiden’s reaction to it. Grace smiling at Mia in the mirror, and of course Mia doesn’t reciprocate the kind gesture. Going back to religion, crosses are not a sign of comfort or reassurances here. Crosses appear in one form or another throughout the movie. When you see a cross, something bad just happened, something bad is about to happen, or they appear during a stretch of hopelessness.

I absolutely loved the zoomed out shots, primarily during certain scenes in the lodge. A calming family retreat? No, the zoomed out shots gives the impression that this ordinary lodge is a spooky and creepy place.

And I can’t forget about Grace, Aiden, and Mia watching John Carpenter’s The Thing! The Thing (1982) is a great choice for a cabin fever movie. Of course, you won’t see any aliens in The Lodge, but a group of people stuck out in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm, fighting to survive a dangerous threat with limited resources and no means of transportation? You can easily connect the dots between both movies. It’s right there. As far as timing and placement goes, you could say that particular scene from The Thing mirrors and lines up with The Lodge right before things really start going downhill. 

A lot of layers for The Lodge. Suffering through mental illnesses is a big one, if we’re focusing on Grace and Laura. For different reasons, Grace and Laura struggled to hold it together. Two tragic characters connected to each other, starting new lives, with bleak futures, concluding in disastrous results. It’s so bad to the point, where everyone would’ve been better off not crossing paths.    

The shots of the little house diorama throughout the movie works as an unusual and creepy style of foreshadowing. It’s a morbid and detailed replica of the lodge, and there’s a dark irony behind it, when you realize the diorama is also a child’s fancy toy. 

Winter, snow, and freezing temperatures. The Lodge is a cold film in more ways than one. Starting the movie off with Laura committing suicide sets an ominous tone. Alicia Silverstone was fantastic. The way she sits down, calmly pours herself a glass of wine, and removes her jewelry, only to shoot herself seconds later was truly shocking. Laura was depressed, but to do that so quickly was a real gut-wrenching moment, because I honestly didn’t see it coming.

The isolated setting is perfect. The quiet lodge, deep in the woods, during a snowstorm and miles away from civilization adds to the dread and impending sense of doom throughout the movie. It’s a slow, slow burn build to the finale, and for me, it occasionally drags, but The Lodge is still a truly outstanding film. The Lodge plays like a psychological drama, featuring some well-placed horror elements. The nighttime scenes at the lodge, and Grace’s nightmare sequences balances things out on the horror side. And Top notch directing, because there’s no denying The Lodge is a beautifully shot film.

A terrific cast all around. Alicia Silverstone makes the most of her short screen time. Riley Keough is simply phenomenal in the leading role, a powerhouse performance that excels during Grace’s descent into madness, when you finally realize she’s just too far gone. The ending is a nail-biter, but it’s not your typical nail-biter. The Lodge’s ending leaves a few nerve-racking questions. Risky chances (Aiden and Mia possibly rushing and fighting Grace), no positive options, and IF anyone survived, no one has a chance of living a normal life after two big tragedies happening so close together.

Rating- 9/10

The Lodge (2019)(Minor Spoilers)

 

**This post contains MINOR spoilers**

The Story- Six months after pushing to finalize a divorce from his wife, Laura (Alicia Silverstone), Richard (Richard Armitage) plans a getaway during the Christmas season with his new fiancée, Grace (Riley Keough), his son, Aiden (Jaeden Martell), and his daughter, Mia (Lia McHugh). The trip to the family’s lodge gets off to a rocky start, and things take a bizarre turn for the worst as time passes.

Grace is forced to deal with her troubled past and a series of strange occurrences, while juggling the responsibilities for taking care of a disgruntled Aiden and Mia. Richard is the only person, who can ease the tensions between Grace, Aiden, and Mia, but there’s also a chance the group is experiencing an unprecedented disturbance…..

My Thoughts- Is Grace a bad person? Well, of course not. The problem is, she’s stuck in an impossible situation trying to earn acceptance and trust from two kids, who clearly hate her. Riley Keough delivers a strong and sympathetic performance, full of emotion and anger, when the situation calls for it. 

Early on in the movie, you can clearly see Grace is TRYING to do everything she can do to carefully ease her way into Aiden and Mia’s lives. Grace is sincerely apologetic, when she unknowingly puts on Laura’s beanie. But on the other side of that, you can understand Grace’s need to stand up for herself, to be an authority figure, because she has to show Aiden and Mia that she’s not a pushover.

It’s hard to not feel any sympathy for Grace, when the story takes a dark turn towards the end. The flashbacks from Grace’s past in the cult, with her father as the leader tells the story of a woman, who truly suffered through hell. To say she didn’t have a normal childhood would be an understatement. Richard, Aiden, and Mia? They were all supposed to be her second chance at happiness and a normal life. More kudos to Riley Keough, because she really drives home the idea of this kind woman, who didn’t deserve what happened to her at the lodge.

Aiden and Mia? You also have to understand, where they’re coming from. Two kids, who deeply love their mother, so when they look at Grace, all they’re going to see is a soulless home-wrecker, who destroyed their family. You could say Aiden is the stronger one in the duo, while Mia, the younger sibling, clings to her toy doll that resembles Laura. 

Jaeden Martell hits all the right notes, as the angsty and stubborn teenager, who flat out refuses to give Grace a fair chance. Lia McHugh does a good job, as the young daughter, who’s still a vulnerable kid at heart, following her older brother’s lead for guidance and a shoulder to lean on. The dynamic between Aiden and Mia is one of the bigger highlights in the movie. They share a tight big brother/little sister bond. They’re a team, and they rely on each other, for good and bad reasons.

The Lodge cleverly fits the pieces of the puzzle for the family drama together, because you can clearly see and understand everyone’s point of view here. Grace wanting to earn her way into a family. Richard trying his best to please Aiden, Grace, and Mia, while he tries to embrace his own happiness with Grace. Aiden and Mia rebelling against Grace replacing their mother, and a heartbroken Laura, who’s not ready to move on with her life.

The Lodge also works as an unconventional Christmas horror film. If we’re making comparisons, it’s not as Christmassy as the Silent Night, Deadly Night films, the Black Christmas remake, or Krampus (2015). The Lodge has a far more serious tone compared to those films. 

Still, it’s set during the Christmas season. Before the story takes a deep dive into the dark side, the lodge is decorated for Christmas, and you’ll see Christmas presents. It’s not festive, and there’s no real cheeriness before the chaos starts. The Lodge slowly injects a crippling poison into of the bigger holidays with bitterness, tension, loss, and family drama. A deep sadness hits at a certain point, because maybe there’s a chance a good and happy Christmas celebration could’ve healed any open wounds. 

Religion plays a big part in the story here. Grace never had a chance. She was corrupted at an early age by her father, Aaron (Danny Keough), a fanatical cult leader. For Grace, religion is the boogeyman that just won’t go away, a leech sucking her soul dry. Brainwashing, and towards the end, religion is used as a guilt tripping mechanism and a scare tactic on both sides. Also, the found-footage from Grace’s life in the cult and the mass suicides are a prime example for how religion can be turned into something evil, or used as a deadly weapon in the wrong hands.

Veronika Franz and Severin Fiala’s work behind the camera is admirable. So many little nuances and subtle storytelling with the shots of the black balloons floating into the sky, Richard touching Grace’s leg and Aiden’s reaction to it. Grace smiling at Mia in the mirror, and of course Mia doesn’t reciprocate the kind gesture. Going back to religion, crosses are not a sign of comfort or reassurances here. Crosses appear in one form or another throughout the movie. When you see a cross, something bad just happened, something bad is about to happen, or they appear during a stretch of hopelessness.

I absolutely loved the zoomed out shots, primarily during certain scenes in the lodge. A calming family retreat? No, the zoomed out shots gives the impression that this ordinary lodge is a spooky and creepy place.

And I can’t forget about Grace, Aiden, and Mia watching John Carpenter’s The Thing! The Thing (1982) is a great choice for a cabin fever movie. Of course, you won’t see any aliens in The Lodge, but a group of people stuck out in the middle of nowhere during a snowstorm, fighting to survive a dangerous threat with limited resources and no means of transportation? You can easily connect the dots between both movies. It’s right there. As far as timing and placement goes, you could say that particular scene from The Thing mirrors and lines up with The Lodge right before things really start going downhill. 

A lot of layers for The Lodge. Suffering through mental illnesses is a big one, if we’re focusing on Grace and Laura. For different reasons, Grace and Laura struggled to hold it together. Two tragic characters connected to each other, starting new lives, with bleak futures, concluding in disastrous results. It’s so bad to the point, where everyone would’ve been better off not crossing paths. 

The shots of the little house diorama throughout the movie works as an unusual and creepy style of foreshadowing. It’s a morbid and detailed replica of the lodge, and there’s a dark irony behind it, when you realize the diorama is also a child’s fancy toy. 

Winter, snow, and freezing temperatures. The Lodge is a cold film in more ways than one. The isolated setting is perfect. The quiet lodge, deep in the woods, during a snowstorm and miles away from civilization adds to the dread and impending sense of doom throughout the movie. It’s a slow, slow burn build to the finale, and for me, it occasionally drags, but The Lodge is still a truly outstanding film. The Lodge plays like a psychological drama, featuring some well-placed horror elements. The nighttime scenes at the lodge, and Grace’s nightmare sequences balances things out on the horror side. And Top notch directing, because there’s no denying The Lodge is a beautifully shot film.

A terrific cast all around. Alicia Silverstone makes the most of her short screen time. Riley Keough is simply phenomenal in the leading role, a powerhouse performance that excels during Grace’s descent into madness, when you finally realize she’s just too far gone. The ending is a nail-biter, but it’s not your typical nail-biter. The Lodge’s ending leaves a few nerve-racking questions. Risky chances, no positive options, and IF anyone survived, no one has a chance of living a normal life after two big tragedies happening so close together.

Rating- 9/10

Hobbs & Shaw (2019)

 

**This post contains spoilers** 

The Story- Luke Hobbs (Dwayne Johnson) and Deckard Shaw (Jason Statham) reluctantly team up to protect Shaw’s sister and  MI6 agent, Hattie (Vanessa Kirby). Carrying a deadly virus, Hattie is pursued by Brixton Lore (Idris Elba), a former MI6 agent and Eteon’s number one cybernetically enhanced operative. Eteon, a terrorist organization powered by advanced technology and weapons, plans to unleash the virus to fulfill their vision for an evolved future. 

Hobbs, Shaw, and Hattie will have to work together to defeat Eteon and Brixton. But the trio runs into a big problem, when their plans unravel during a botched mission at Eteon’s base in Ukraine. 

My Thoughts- The playful one-upsmanship and the banter between Johnson and Statham is truly the driving force behind Hobbs & Shaw. Johnson and Statham have undeniable chemistry together, and the split screen for Hobbs and Shaw’s morning routines was a nice touch. You’ll see some noticeable similarities between the two. But the differences are still clear, with Shaw being more sophisticated and polished, while Hobbs is more of a rugged, down to earth guy, who likes to flex his muscles. 

Brixton Lore leans too much on the cool bad guy (“I’m Black Superman!”) side of things at times, but Idris Elba is still a fantastic villain here. Yeah, all the fancy gadgetry and high tech accessories and weapons strengthens Brixton’s character, as this seemingly unstoppable and intimidating threat, but Elba has a strong presence. Elba’s impressive charisma and his confident performance as Brixton is one of the bigger highlights in the movie, truly a great choice for the main adversary to match the superstar duo of Hobbs and Shaw. 

Hattie Shaw is resourceful and fierce. Vanessa Kirby delivers a solid performance as Hattie, and Hattie’s sharp sarcasm is good for a few laughs. Ryan Reynolds brings his usual brand of snappy humor. I can’t think of too many actors, who could simultaneously explain the seriousness of a deadly virus being unleashed on the world with gory details, while also adding in comedic bits to the explanation, without undermining the severity of the situation. But Reynolds nailed the scene at the diner, when he tells Hobbs about the virus.

Kevin Hart makes the most of his brief screen time, with a few appearances as a spirited goofball. Eiza Gonzalez has a short role, but her character plays an important part in the story. Similar to Kevin Hart, Gonzalez doesn’t have a lot of screen time, but she still manages to make an impact as Madam M. And it’s always nice to see Helen Mirren reprise her role as Queenie. Eddie Marsan only has a handful of appearances as Professor Andreiko, but Marsan still delivers an impactful performance for an important character. 

The Rock makes an effort to bring some pro wrestling moments and references to Hobbs & Shaw. Hobbs’ People’s Eyebrow during a Face Time call with his daughter, Sam (Eliana Su’a), and Mateo (Joe Anoa’i/Roman Reigns) hits a Samoan Drop on an Eteon soldier, followed by a spear, complete with Reigns’ signature roar afterwards. 

Speaking of Reigns, I’m still wondering if he’ll make that big transition to Hollywood one day. Dave Bautista and Rock are the two big success stories for transitioning from pro wrestling to acting. Maybe Reigns will get a bigger role one day, and a chance to really show off what he can do.

The big final battle delivers a good amount of thrills, while proudly showcasing Johnson’s roots and his Samoan heritage. The irony of the supposedly superior and more technologically advanced Eteon suffering a decisive loss at the hands Hobbs, Shaw, Hattie, and the Samoans really works for a satisfying conclusion. In the end, Brixton and Eteon’s fancy technology couldn’t overcome teamwork, friendship, pure heart, and grit, easily dismantling Eteon’s beliefs about the weak and ineffective human race needing to confirm to their crazy ideas for a technological evolution.

Brixton has a sad ending. Before The Eteon Director decommissions Brixton, you can tell at one point in his life, Brixton was probably a good guy. He lost his way and was sucked into Eteon’s radical agenda, and Elba did a good job of selling Brixton’s confusion and disbelief. A loyal and dedicated solider for Eteon, who risked his life, but he was disposed of like yesterday’s trash, when he failed. Throughout the movie, Brixton is a seemingly unstoppable force, so he genuinely couldn’t believe in the possibility of losing to Hobbs and Shaw.

Hobbs & Shaw is predictable. You know at some point, Hobbs and Shaw will have to truly trust each other. They’ll have to put aside their differences, squash their big egos, and cohesive teamwork was the simple secret to defeating Brixton. Executing Hattie to stop the spread of the virus? I never believed it was a possibility, because there was no point in teasing so many close calls, unless they ultimately planned on Hattie surviving.

Still, Hobbs & Shaw is an enjoyable film, featuring hard hitting and slick action sequences. It’s a pure adrenaline rush, moving at fast pace, with the right amount of cheesiness. The runtime is close enough to three hours, but Hobbs & Shaw never drags. The casting is superb. Everyone in the main cast feels like the right fit for their personas, and Hobbs is a character that perfectly plays to The Rock’s strengths as an actor. 

Hobbs & Shaw is a fun and big over the top action blockbuster, complete with explosions and slow motion fight scenes, and happy endings. Hobbs buries the hatchet with his brother, Jonah (Cliff Curtis), he reconnects with his family, and Sam finally gets to meet her grandmother, Sefina (Lori Pelenise Tuisano). Hattie and Deckard visit Queenie in prison, fulfilling Queenie’s wish of seeing her children together as brother and sister again. Oh, and of course there’s a cliffhanger with Hattie and Deckard working together to help Queenie break out of prison. 

There’s a lot of material to work with for a sequel. We still don’t know the true identity for The Director Of Eteon. It’s only a distorted voice to keep the secret, and The Voice is quick to let Hobbs and Shaw know they’re not in the clear yet after Brixton’s death. 

Will Hattie and Hobbs become a couple? A romance between the two is constantly teased. Hobbs being romantically involved with Shaw’s sister is worth pursuing to see how Shaw will react. I do wonder if Vanessa Kirby would return for a sequel. A lot of potential with Hobbs, Shaw, and Hattie working together, with Hattie being the voice of reason or the peacemaker, when Hobbs and Shaw inevitably butt heads. 

Rating- 7/10

Countdown (2019)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- A nurse named Quinn Harris (Elizabeth Lail) downloads the Countdown app, an app that features a clock that’s capable of pinpointing the exact time and date of the user’s death. Quinn shockingly learns she only has two days to live, and to make matters worse, Quinn’s younger sister, Jordan (Talitha Bateman) also downloads Countdown, revealing an identical time frame for her death.

Quinn works together with Matt (Jordan Calloway), Father John (P.J. Byrne), and a tech guru named Derek (Tom Segura) to escape certain death. Father John has a plan to help Quinn, Matt, and Jordan, but time is not on their side, as the demon Ozhin targets the group.

My Thoughts- The death app? Now that’s truly a unique idea for a horror film! Yes, you can say it’s a gimmicky trick, but Countdown still reinforces the inevitability and the hopelessness of death with a modern twist.

Think about the opening of the movie. Courtney (Anne Winters) didn’t want to get in the car with her drunk boyfriend, Evan (Dillon Lane), because she believed she had a better chance of escaping death, if she walked home. What happened? Ozhin murdered her at the house. And to add another eerie layer to Courtney’s demise, she would’ve died anyways, when Evan crashed his car.

Father John’s circle to stop Ozhin? It didn’t work, because Matt was lured away by Ozhin impersonating his dead brother. Derek rigging the app to add more years for a longer life? The clocks rolled back to the original time frames. Quinn planning to kill  Dr. Sullivan (Peter Facinelli) before his time runs out to break the curse? Ozhin prevented it from happening.

It’s a strong reoccurring theme throughout Countdown. You can’t escape or outsmart death. Your fate is unavoidable, and the end comes whether  you’re ready for it or not. Big difference in Countdown is, you know exactly when you’re going to die, and there’s nothing you can do about it. That’s truly terrifying.

Read the user agreement! It’s something we’ve all done, myself included, when you’re downloading an app or a new program. You see this massive wall of text, all these paragraphs, and there’s a chance you have no idea what most of it means. So you just scroll down to click or tap that “I agree” button. In Countdown, breaking the user agreement comes with deadly consequences. 

There’s a good amount of realism behind the characters in Countdown not reading the user agreement, because I’m sure it’s something we’ve all done before. South Park’s memorable HumancentiPad episode took the more comical approach to show how bad things can happen, if you don’t carefully read the user agreement. Obviously things are more serious in Countdown. Maybe all the trouble could’ve been avoided, if Quinn and others just decided to read?

Ozhin’s design is fairly gruesome. A demonic creature, the grim reaper who draws closer, as your time in the living world runs out. There’s a good backstory for Ozhin’s origins involving the story with the prince trying to avoid his death. The prince’s backstory proves you can have everything you want. Riches and a luxurious life, but none of that will save you from death. 

And it’s a trick that’s been overused in a lot of horror films, but Ozhin appearing as dead loved ones related to the main characters in an attempt to deceive them still works. Quinn is a good example. Ozhin disguises himself as her deceased mother, Jamie (Andrea Anders). Remember, Quinn never got a chance to say goodbye to her mother, before she was killed by a drunk driver.

Looking at the cast, Peter Facinelli delivers a solid performance as Dr. Sullivan. Dr. Sullivan is a creepy pervert. There’s just something slimy about him, and how he carries himself.

Tom Segura is genuinely hilarious as Derek or “Doc.” Derek is a sarcastic and brash know-it-all, and Segura absolutely nails Derek’s personality. P.J. Byrne’s enthusiasm as the unconventional priest brings a spark to the cast, and you can tell he’s having fun with the character. And he’s only in one scene, but John Bishop makes the most of his limited screen time, as Gerry, an unhinged and nutty conspiracy theorist. 

Segura, Byrne, and Bishop all deliver the laughs in their own unique ways, but it’s a problem. Countdown’s comedic side is far more entertaining and effective than the horror side of the movie. It’s strange, because Countdown has a promising opening. After Courtney leaves the party, it’s dark outside and she’s clearly being stalked by Ozhin. A good spooky sequence, but the problem is, Ozhin lurking in the background gets a a bit repetitive. 

I understand what they were they going for, Ozhin is the shadow that you can’t run from, and it doesn’t matter where you are. But after the fiasco with Courtney, Evan in the hallways at the hospital, and Quinn in the parking lot, Ozhin suddenly appearing out of nowhere loses its wow factor.

If we’re talking about cliches, Jordan being the bratty and rebellious teenager is the only one that’s too on the nose, but there’s a good reason for it. Jordan, similar to Quinn and their father, Charlie (Matt Letscher), is still grieving over the loss her mother. She’s too young to process everything, and she’s upset Quinn is not adequately filling the role of the protective big sister.

Quinn dealing with the ramifications of Dr. Sullivan forcing himself on her is the big subplot. Quinn feels alienated, and Nurse Amy (Tichina Arnold) is one of the only people, who she can talk to, and Sullivan manages to sabotage that relationship. Solid execution for this subplot, because Sullivan is a lying weasel, a cretin who deserves his comeuppance for targeting women, while abusing his position of authority. 

The swerve during the ending, with Jordan using the syringe to revive Quinn? Well, you had to know Quinn had something up her sleeve, because she didn’t want to leave Jordan behind. And it’s no surprise Quinn’s plan didn’t work. Countdown ends on a cliffhanger, revealing Countdown version 2.0 downloaded itself on Quinn’s phone. Sorry, but it just wasn’t believable that Quinn beat the clock, because it’s proven throughout the movie, that no matter what you do, it’s impossible to cheat death. 

Countdown is a gimmicky horror film, but the potential is undeniable. It’s a story about loss, learning to deal with death and everything that comes with it, and the fear of not being able to alter your fate, when you have good intentions to do so. There’s a good scene during the ending, where Quinn, Jordan, and Charlie visit Jamie’s grave together as a family. They’re looking for the closure they all desperately need, a good somber moment, when you consider all the obstacles the family had to endure to get there, especially Quinn and Jordan.

Countdown is hampered by the usual PG-13 mainstream horror movie setbacks. Too many predictable jump scares, a step by step process of storytelling, and a cheap cliffhanger that’s most likely not going to go anywhere (Countdown was released in 2019). There’s a solid story to work with here, and using an app for death is a creative idea. Countdown is not a horrible film, but it could’ve been so much better.

Rating- 5/10

Escape Room (2019)

 

**This post contains spoilers**

The Story- The Minos Corporation chooses Zoey (Taylor Russell), Ben (Logan Miller), Amanda (Deborah Ann Woll), Danny (Nik Dodani), Mike (Tyler Labine), and Jason (Jay Ellis) to participate in an escape room game. Playing the game seems like a fun challenge at first, but as the rooms become more dangerous, it’s clear Minos has sinister motivations.

My Thoughts- Escape Room features the usual cast of characters you’ll see in a survival game horror movie. Zoey is the wholesome protagonist, who wants to help and hopefully save everyone from certain death. Jason? Well, he’s a jerk. Jason represents the kind of relentless participant, who will do anything to win the game and stay alive. He’s selfish and heartless, and Jason only wants to be a team player, if it’ll help his chances of survival. But his mindset is also understandable, because if we’re being honest, not too many people are going to risk their lives to save and protect complete strangers.

Personal tragedies play a big part in the games for Escape Room. Amanda is a combat veteran with PTSD, so you can easily see why she’s the first member of the group to panic. There’s also the red jacket from Jason’s story in the outdoor winter room. Jason used that jacket to keep himself from freezing to death after he murdered his friend. In the winter room, the red jacket is shared amongst the group to fight off hypothermia, something Jason selfishly refused to do with his friend.

The clever interweaving for using personal hardships as tie-ins for the games adds an emotional layer to Escape Room. The main cast of characters are forced to face their demons. The majority of the escape rooms have their own brands of uniqueness and deadly creativity. Starting things off with the oven room was a good choice to set the tone for the rest of the movie. The upside down room with the bar and the pool table was truly unreal. It’s easily the only room, where I could buy into the possibility of anyone dying, because of how extremely dangerous everything was, a true nail biter.

Something to pay close attention to is how the mood changes, as the game progresses. At first, the banter and jokes throughout the group are playful, but that changes as things get more serious. The insults are more personal and nasty, because the group realizes death is a realistic possibility. Jason gets more belligerent with his finger wagging, while constantly trying to expose the weak links, and everyone’s moral compass is put to the test.

The second to last escape room was a big letdown for me. It’s down to Jason and Ben for the final two survivors, and Zoey is presumably dead. The whole sequence inside this boring and plain room didn’t do anything for me. I get the whole idea behind the distorted POV, because Jason and Ben were heavily drugged, but it’s just too whacky overall. And to make matters worse, the placement they chose for this room didn’t fit. It’s toward the end of the movie, so I was expecting something more complex to reflect the high stakes to make it to the finish line.

The Gamemaster’s (Yorick van Wageningen) explanation to Ben for Minos’ motivations might be a tad bit cliched, but it still works. Minos’ clients are rich and powerful, and they’re willing to pay top dollar for more extreme content. The Gamemaster believes most of the world has gone soft, and that’s where Minos steps in. You can believe the rich and powerful see ordinary people as disposable toys for their amusement, and The Gamemaster also uses gladiator games and public executions for examples. That specific group of spectators never vanished, they were just pushed further into the shadows as the world changed.

Ben making it to the end as the “dark horse” survivor was a decent enough surprise, because you knew Jason’s selfishness and his arrogance would come back to bite him sooner or later. I didn’t buy Zoey’s death in the carbon monoxide poisoning room for one second. They tried a swerve, but they invested too much in Zoey, as the shy and scrappy protagonist with a fighting spirit. She’s too smart, and Zoey was going to find a way to make it. 

Escape Room has an alternate ending, where Zoey is lured back into one of her college classrooms. She gets the $10k grand prize check (she defiantly tears it up) and her mother’s compass, and the Puzzle Maker traps her inside for another game. This ending just feels flat, when you compare it to the theatrical ending. Zoe and Ben continuing their pursuit to expose Minos, while the Puzzle Maker prepares another game for both of them with the crashing flight simulator is a far more intriguing cliffhanger and ending.

Escape Room is a fun and entertaining game horror movie, with a lot of energy and brisk pacing. The thrills are consistent, and the entire cast delivers solid performances. I almost wish Yorick van Wageningen had more screen time. I understand the idea behind saving his only appearance until the end for the big reveal, but Wageningen is genuinely evil, cold, and cruel as The Gamemaster, truly a perfect fit to represent Minos. He does a lot with a little amount of time, and Wageningen would’ve made a great villain to showcase throughout the movie.

Rating- 7/10