REVIEW: Would You Rather

Would you rather drown in debt, or play a rousing game of Would You Rather? 

This is the burning question posed in David Guy Levy's savage film "Would You Rather".

When Iris (Brittany Snow) is under crippling financial strain for her brother's medical bills, she is at her breaking point. When she meets ominous rich philanthropist Sheperd Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs), he makes her a cryptic offer to potentially clear her debt, if she attends a dinner party he's hosting for other potential recipients.

The dinner party is an assortment of downtrodden people, with varying degrees of sympathetic plight. The hook is that in order for one to receive their dream, the rest must be "eliminated" in a grotesque version of "Would You Rather". 

This is one powerful gem of a horror. It's psychologically relentless, and also has a sinister sense of humor. What is presented as the financial version of "keep away", also has a dark underbelly of exposing the contestants to their most base self. When a recovering alcoholic is offered 50,000 dollars to down a bottle of scotch, he happily complies.

The game starts off fairly harmless, if still barbaric. The beauty of the film is its slow descent into the macabre. Walking away is not an option, as they are surrounded by armed guards. As things progress, and the contestants plea with other to keep things fair for the sake of the group. Robb Wells (of Trailer Park Boys fame) has the line of the movie, when he dryly says to a sweet old lady, before having to stab her, "Sorry, but you're going to have to take one for the team".

Of course, the team mentality quickly fades, and everyone turns on each other, while Sheperd and his equally diabolical son (Robin Lord Taylor) cackle maniacally.

The casting here is absolute genius. Combs has tike and again proven to the horror community that he is royalty, and here is no exception. His razor sharp wit and menace are on full display here. Similarly genius is the casting of several familiar faces from other genres as the contestants, ranging from the Crab Man (Eddie Steeples) from My Name Is Earl, to Wells, to Home Alone's John Heard, to The Wire and Walking Dead's Lawrence Gilliard Jr, to sweet June Squibb, and even Sasha Grey. Snow's Iris is the glue that holds the whole thing together, and she's wonderful.

The script by Steffen Schlachtenhaufen is snarky,  bold, and allows plenty of opportunities for the actors to run wild. It also does not overstay its welcome, and remains gripping throughout. The ending is more of a footnote to the game, and really rams home the "everything has a price" theme. Levy's direction is kept without flash, and much like Sheperd's instructions, it's all about the game, and the contestants decisions.

Though this movie is not out to reinvent any wheels, it's near perfect for what it is. It's funny, creepy, shocking, and on a level of possibility for so many, which to me is the scariest part.