That’s One Scary Question
The concept of an entire film about people being tortured has never really interested me. The first few to come out were shocking and gory, but further entries offered absolutely nothing else besides more depravity. Which is why I usually avoid films that fall into the category of “torture porn.” Would You Rather is a movie I’d heard about for a long time and avoided on purpose for the reasons stated above. But it did have many other elements that intrigued me so today I decided to make it my pick for day seven.
Ten strangers gather around a dinner table to play a game. Each has been personally selected by eccentric billionaire Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs, Re-Animator, The Frighteners) to take part in a evening of “Would You Rather?” where the person left standing will walk away with enough money to set them up for the rest of their life.
As you can imagine, the options for each round consist of one horrible choice versus another horrible choice. Would you rather stab the person to your left, or whip the person to your right? For some, it’s obvious. For others, each challenge creates an internal struggle that only gets worse as the evening progresses. It surprised me that this psychological aspect was more torturous than witnessing the atrocities some of the players had to endure.
Would You Rather has one of the most impressive ensemble casts I’ve ever seen for an independent horror film. Combs steals the show as Lambrick and even though John Heard (Sharknado, After Hours) is only in it briefly, he’s exceptional as recovering alcoholic Conway. Brittany Snow (Pitch Perfect, Prom Night) has a shaky start but hits solid ground once things get moving and the game begins. The rest of the cast is made up of familiar faces from television: Eddie Steeples (My Name is Earl, Raising Hope), Robb Wells (Trailer Park Boys), Enver Gjokaj (Agent Carter, Extant), Lawrence Gilliard Jr. (The Walking Dead, The Wire) and Robin Lord Taylor (Gotham). It’s really nice to see some of these actors who are known for comedy holding their own in such a serious horror film.
As far as “torture porn” movies go, Would You Rather offers much more than just gore on top of gore. Removing the violence, you could see a similar setup working in an old episode of The Twilight Zone or any of Hitchcock’s masterpieces. Recommended.
Availability: Netflix US, Netflix Canada
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