Review by Quin
Let me just say right away, this movie has very little in common with the BBC game show hosted by Graham Norton. It does however share its inspiration. They are both based on the popular game most of us have either played at a party or with a group of friends. In this game, a question is asked – beginning with the phrase “Would you rather?” and the person answering must be truthful. Perhaps this calls my honesty in to question, but I always thought it was easy to lie and give the answer that was the least embarrassing. Let’s face it, for someone like me, playing Would You Rather was a lot easier and more comfortable than Truth or Dare? or Seven minutes in Heaven. But I guess those games are taken to varying levels depending on the age group and amount of adult supervision. I could see all of them as the basis for horror films; I had to look this up, but Truth or Dare? is actually a horror film from 1986 that starred an 8 year old A.J. McLean – he went on to become a Backstreet Boy. I’m sure someone will get around to making Seven Minutes in Heaven into a horror film eventually, probably also starring future boy band members.
But enough about imaginary movies, we have a real one to discuss. Iris (played by Brittany Snow) takes care of her brother who has leukemia. She is running out of options when she meets deep pocketed philanthropist Shepard Lambrick (played by the amazing Jeffrey Combs, looking a lot like a younger, scrawnier Burt Reynolds.) He invites her to come to his estate to compete with some others in a game. If she wins, her brother’s cancer treatment will be completely paid for and his name will go to the top of every list and therefore they will have nothing to worry about ever again. Sounds great, right? Well, as the title suggests, the game being played is Would You Rather. But in Lambrick’s version, people are tortured and then they die. Whoever doesn’t die will win.
Inside Lambrick’s home, we meet his servant staff and his son. We also meet those that Iris will be competing against. Lambrick’s right hand man does all of his dirty work – and he looks exactly like Erich von Stroheim in Sunset Boulevard. Jonny Coyne plays him with flashes of humanity between the bursts of brutality. You really get the feeling that he is just doing his job, which makes it that much more disturbing. Among the players of the game are a couple of familiar faces. Longtime character actor John Heard plays a recovering alcoholic who speaks up almost immediately in regard to the unfairness of the rules of Lambrick’s game. Former adult film star Sasha Grey plays Amy. She holds her own in this film, but her acting chops were much better in Steven Soderbergh’s The Girlfriend Experience. Also, there is a scene in Would You Rather where she has to hold her breath for a really long time. If you’ve seen any of her older films, you know she can hold her breath just fine. So a little bit of your belief must be suspended.
Would You Rather is the first feature film directed by David Guy Levy and it was written by Steffen Schlachtenhaufen, who has an extended list of credits working on visual effects. Surprisingly, it’s a pretty darn good start for both of them. The direction is solid throughout and manages to avoid the things that could have pushed this into exploitation or torture porn, while at the same time maintaining a level of tension that is extremely uncomfortable. The writing suffers slightly in the setup. We are introduced to the characters in a way that lets us know what is going to happen at the end. However, the choice to give us more than a couple likeable characters was a breath of fresh air and something that is so often left out of horror. This elevates the level of taste and allows us to get emotionally involved. We even get to see the human side of the bad guys. Don’t get me wrong, it’s clear throughout who you should root for, but the villains aren’t complete monsters. It’s Jeffrey Combs for crying out loud. He does such a good job of playing cheesy and hammy, but here he is way more sinister with an air about him that shows us he really thinks he’s doing a good thing for these people, all while still providing much of the comic relief. Some of which makes you chuckle and the other stuff makes you wince.
The DVD is worth checking out for the thorough and insightful commentary from the director and writer. They do discuss in detail how they wanted to avoid torture porn, instead opting for more Hitchcockian suspense. As well as the reality show dynamic they got going with the assortment of characters who are in the competition. There is also a poster art gallery, which made me wonder why they chose the poster they did for the American release. They clearly had some wonderful designs. A couple of which reminded me of a creepy version of the Gosford Park movie poster. But they went with the photo of SPOILER ALERT: a pivotal part of the climax- albeit an act we never actually see on screen. This is perhaps the studio trying to sell a smart and well made movie to people who just want to see slicin’ up eyeballs. Ah ha ha ho! This movie is so much more than that.
Would You Rather is out now on Region 1 DVD from IFC Midnight.