Director: Michelle Iannantuono
Year: 2023
Country: USA
Alternate Titles: N/A
Genre: Psychological Thriller
Plot:
Gathered together for a special session, a group of livestreamers and a fan try to play a special game on their latest stream, but the more they get into the various aspects of the game, the more they realize something is wrong as dark secrets and twisted revelations come to the forefront.
Review:
This was a solid if somewhat troubling genre effort. One of the main selling points here is the way this manages to draw out the kind of enhanced setup from the original to a more expansive setup similar to the same concept. Once again focused on the idea of a haunted video game trying to test the resolve of the players by forcing them to engage in a twisted series of games that soon show themselves off as the kind of traps that point to the idea of what happens in the game happens in real life, there’s a lot of fun to be had with the innocent interactions slowly going darker over time. Their initial hopeful interactions and participation in the games makes for a fun time as it slowly gets more deranged and out of their expectations where it finally starts getting into the over-the-top series of puzzles that might mean death if they fail, but can be overcome, forcing them into a series of exercises to put their relationship and history on the line to save each other.
That these are graced with a solid series of interactions in the game itself is a lot of fun to watch play out as well, with the avatars of the characters being put through a series of different interactions and games to try to survive. From encounters with chainsaw-wielding psychopaths, spirits materializing out of thin air, or trying to defuse a loaded bomb, among other setpieces that tackle these kinds of challenging aspects of the gaming community, which leaves everything quite thrilling as it goes on. The immersive quality of the gameplay allows it to overcome the potentially bland setup involving the whole thing being played through the avatars, while occasionally cutting to the shots of the players trying not to succumb to the deadly figure trying to kill them for real. That can be somewhat offputting much like the other idea of the group being forced to reveal dark secrets about themselves, which doesn’t have much impact listening to secrets that took place long before we caught up to them, so it all makes them less likable in a scenario where that’s a big factor. Overall, this was still a fairly fun feature.
Overview: ***.5/5
A strong if somewhat slightly-flawed sequel, there’s a lot to like here that makes everything feel quite fun while only being let down by a few minor flaws, including some of the same factors from the first entry. Those who are fans of the original, who are curious about it, or who appreciate this kind of genre fare in general will have a lot to like, while most others out there might want to heed caution.
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