Review: Would You Rather

Starring: Brittany Snow, June Squibb, Jeffrey Combs, Sasha Grey
Directed by: David Guy Levy
Language: English
Rating: Not Rated
Running Time: 93 minutes
This film has been mentioned, good and bad, on this horror movie confession blog I follow on Tumblr. The confessions for this movie was either on side of the spectrum of praise or the other side with criticism and mockery. Reading the plot of the story sounded interesting and a bit flimsy, but the trailer further provoked my curiosity. I was surprised to see it sitting on the shelf at my job and decided to snag it for myself.


Raleigh is struggling with leukemia and his sister, Iris, has stayed by his side to take care of him. Despite struggling financially, Iris tries her best to find money and make ends meet while trying to gain enough money for Raleigh's treatment. She eventually is introduced to philanthropic billionaire Shepard Lambrick who owns a foundation that helps people with medical treatments and expenses. All Iris has to do is attend his dinner party and play a game, then Shepard would provide enough money for Iris and Raleigh and find a bone marrow donor. When Iris arrives at the Lambrick house, she has an opportunity to get to know the other contestants participating in the game. Everything, of course, seems normal until the dinner is over and the real game begins.


I had predictions that this movie was probably going to be bad, but have an interesting story. Did it meet my expectations? Not really and that's a good thing...somewhat. The premise was indeed interesting, but once the dinner began, I completely forgot the whole purpose of Iris' attendance. So, in that sense, it was weak, but the actions on the screen were so entertaining to me that I really didn't care that much. I'm sure this movie could easily be placed in the "torture porn" sub-genre, but they really didn't show what the characters had to do when it came to gore. Maybe it was because of budget reasons, director's choice, or something else, but I really liked the off camera gore. It had a tiny similarity to Saw when it came to the participants. At least, they had better sense to try to work together, excluding one person and I think they made it entertaining. The antagonist though was pretty cliche and unbelievable in reality, but it didn't take away from the movie. He was quite amusing in his over the top sadistic mannerisms.

In short, I did like this movie, but I have to admit there were a few things that could've made it better. I mentioned I liked that most of the characters worked together, but I wish there was a little more background on the participants. I already said the premise was weak and forgettable too. The beginning scenes with Iris and Raleigh weren't very interesting. Lastly, the script was predictable at times. This is definitely a movie that follows step by step of what a movie of this genre should be, but I had fun with my own little commentary. For what it was, it was entertaining and short. If you want something that isn't too involved or gory, then take a quick glance at this movie.


Rating: 3/5

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