Director: Danny Philippou, Michael Philippou
Year: 2023
Country: Australia/United Kingdom
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Supernatural
Plot:
Heading to a friend’s party, a teen decides to partake in a viral game involving herself getting possessed by a strange spirit for their amusement, but after the experience gets them hooked ends up hurting a friend and sets out to help free them from a deadly spirit playing the game.
Review:
For the most part, there was a lot to enjoy with this one. One of the better aspects here is the main focus on the bizarre central game that becomes a major part of their interactions together. The overall concept of the game, preparing the participant beforehand with the straps and restraints which then signals the game itself where they undergo the ritual with the cursed hand and then undergo the actual possession itself which is then shown to be an instigation for all manner of crazy antics. From the seemingly harmless like speaking in tongues to more overtly dangerous including self-harm or attacking others in full view of the gathered masses, that this is all passed off as a form of amusement and games that are to be undertaken at will because of the rush it provides goes a long way to making it seem quite impactful.
This is then ramped up nicely with the aftermath of the confrontation that brings about the physical threat to the friend group. The sequence itself is genuinely unnerving and has a lot to like about it with the way it turns south even though it was supposed to all be for naught, and the resulting chaos that emerges trying to make sense of it all comes off incredibly well. That’s also true of the final half here where the series of interactions that come about here are designed to try to figure out what the point of the game is and why the various visions come into play with everything that transpires. This comes about with a solid series of visions and chilling encounters with the interactions with the possessed trying to disrupt their plans which also manages to generate enough effects-work to make for some positive points.
There are some issues here that do hold this one back. Among its big drawbacks is the central setup of the friend-group which is immensely hard to like or care about. Basically being a crop of unlikable douchebag teenagers who quickly show themselves to be more concerned with playing a game involving talking to the dead and videotaping themselves getting possessed by the spirits as a form of amusement, it gets really hard to focus on them being a likable lot of people that would want to be friends with each other. As the incidents continue and they start getting more dangerous and intense, how this never turns into a red flag to stop it with the entirety of the second half playing out as a way to find themselves playing the game whenever they can which is all sorts of difficult to figure out how this is supposed to make them likable.
The other drawback to be had here is the tangible lack of a threat the spirits they contact possess to those around them. With the game being merely about contacting the other side rather than doing anything evil or malicious with the activity, there’s not a whole lot of fear to be generated from this section as the majority of the confrontations are based on the shocking nature of them appearing suddenly rather than how they act to others. As this turns into the aftermath of the possession, there’s more of a focus on the family relationship angle that appears as a result of the main driving point being the randomized nature of trying to get in touch with her dead mother driving it along instead of featuring the spirits trying to interact with them. It’s all enough to bring this one down somewhat.
Overview: ****/5
A highly enjoyable and generally fun genre effort, that there’s quite a lot to like here while still featuring a few minor drawbacks does show up to bring it down only slightly due to the positives here. Those who appreciate this kind of mainstream genre effort, are curious about it, or are fans of the creative crew will have a lot to like here while those who don’t enjoy these factors should heed caution.
Comments
Post a Comment