Director: Rony Patel
Year: 2020
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Slasher
Plot:
Settling in for a home-cooked meal, a couple finds their night interrupted when a bizarre pizza delivery-man attacks them and are forced to kill him to protect themselves, setting the two off on a wild journey deep into the criminal underworld full of homicidal maniacs to clear their names and get out alive.
Review:
For the most part, this is a mess without much going for it. Most of that is due to the story which tends to equate shocking moments and surprising reveals with setup or context as the primary factor for what’s to be considered scary or thrilling. The opening encounter with the delivery man is a perfect example, offering no clue who this bizarre deliveryman is or who his first scene shows him approaching the house carrying heads in an orange bag. He’s not explained, nor are the seemingly supernatural powers he displays being able to enter the house moments later after being locked out to see him sitting on the couch threateningly. The couple is more outraged over the interruption this causes to their plans than who he is, why he showed up or if this is the start of something bigger which is a problem with the lackluster story.
Moreover, that’s a huge issue with the rest of the film as a whole where seemingly random events keep occurring to the two. How they manage to go from being a seemingly average couple enjoying a romantic night together to being targeted by a criminal organization and tortured by homicidal maniacs should make some kind of sense yet nothing ever does. Considering the viciousness of the criminal gang they come in contact with, there should be more of a throughline as to how the storyline ties together but this one never gives any concrete evidence. They’re always the one being spoken to or given instructions but nothing comes of who the gang is, how they get their information or what the general endgame is, leaving this a confusing, random mess.
Lastly, even if the story makes no sense, this one suffers greatly from glaring internal issues that belie its amateur status. The couple is completely nonplussed by what they encounter on their journey, reacting to everything with a blank, emotionless expression and barely-audible whispers instead of logically freaking out over the people they encounter or the dangerousness of the situation. Knowing they’re in the presence of vile, homicidal criminals should elicit more of a fear for their lives than what’s going on which really lowers our sympathy for them. It’s only possible to know their names from the end credits as they barely speak to each other which only occurs in that low-register whisper, and by the end when they start to get tortured for information but fail to give any all interest is lost in this random, directionless mess.
Overview: 0.5/5
One of the most random, pointless, chaotic messes of a genre film released this year, this one has no redeeming qualities whatsoever and has nothing about it worth caring about. There’s no real audience for this one as there’s something to annoy or irritate any type of genre fan, making it best to just ignore it and let it serve as a failed experience.
This review was originally published on Asian Movie Pulse and is gratefully reprinted with their cooperation.
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