Film Review: Truth or Dare

"The Game Is Real. Wherever You Go, Whatever You Do It Will Find You..."

With Jason Blum's Blumhouse Productions obtaining worldwide popularity after the critical success of Jordan Peele's Oscar winning horror, Get Out, last year, it very much seems that the company are willing to tackle anything and everything with a slight horror genre infliction, no matter how weak the subject matter, with a penchant for prioritising quantity over quality as well as gaining a reputation for being the physical manifestation of a paint-by-numbers horror conveyor belt. With Truth or Dare therefore, directed by Jeff Wadlow of Kick-Ass 2 fame after apparently "spitballing" an opening idea with the hierarchy at Blumhouse, it's fair to say that Oscar success is not exactly on the horizon any time soon, with the movie akin more to the likes of Blumhouse disasters such as The Gallows and Sinister 2, and even with a somewhat interesting premise in which our leading horny, social-media addicted and majestically beautiful college "teens" are sucked into a murderous entity's sick game, Truth or Dare fails entirely as a work of horror to the extent that if sold as a comedy, it perhaps would have been much more successful. 

Predictable from the outset, Wadlow's movie begins in terrible and perfunctory fashion, following Lucy Hale's (Pretty Little Liars) Olivia and her merry band of followers including Tyler Poser's (Teen Wolf) Lucas and Violett Beane's (The Flash) Markie as they make there way across the Mexican border in order to experience their final spring break. Cue visit to creepy dwelling, the discovery of satanic rituals and exposition galore, the next sixty minutes moves into a Final Destination territory as we witness each of the friendship group take their turn in the titular game which is forced upon them by an evil entity who breaks free in the form of whacking great smiles, a laughably awful effect which is even coined as "the worst snapchat filter ever" by one of the victims and forces them to adhere to the rules with a punishment of death if anyone rejects to playing. With the jump scares weak, the sense of threat non-existent and one of the biggest cop-out resolutions ever seen on the big-screen, Truth or Dare is unsurprisingly terrible, even with a somewhat likeable leading lady in the form of Hale, but with tacky genre tropes, a rafter of cliches and a dull, overly repetitive narrative, Wadlow's movie is a game really not worth playing.

Overall Score: 3/10

Film Review: The Edge of Seventeen

"I Am An Old Soul. I Like Old Movies And Old Music. Even Old People...!"

I know the feeling. As one of the minorities who believe they were born in the completely wrong era, The Edge of Seventeen is one of those fantastical coming-of-age comedies in which relating with the leading lady is simple. A conflicted socially awkward teen who believes the current social strata is one of isolation and technological addiction could sum up Hailee Steinfield's Nadine, a high-school junior who fails completely at fitting in with the modern crowd and unfortunately loses her best friend after she catches her sleeping with her brother. Ouch indeed. The Edge of Seventeen works on a wide range of levels, no more so than Steinfield herself, who after her star-making performance in the Coen's remake of True Grit, embraces the film's lead role in her stride and creates a character so effortlessly likeable, the fact that she appears in every shot of the movie makes it an enjoyable ride into the ambiguity of modern youthfulness once again. 

Whilst the perilous teen conflicts at the heart of The Edge of Seventeen aren't entirely organic, the rather understated nature of the narrative helps to inflict a sense of realism into the drama associated around Nadine, with her brother, played by Everybody Wants Some!! star Blake Jenner, seemingly at the heart of the main issues, a problem many siblings across the globe can relate to. Adding a level of droll humour to the proceedings, Woody Harrelson's portrayal of Nadine's teacher-comfort is a quaint addition, one which allows our heroine to find comfort in the heart of someone much older yet someone who understands her completely. Strangely enough, the 15 rating plastered on the movie will unfortunately dissuade most of the audience the movie is attempting to connect with, yet The Edge of Seventeen is indeed one of the more heartwarming additions to the big screen at the moment and when put up against the likes of Office Christmas Party, it's Annie Hall. On its' own however, The Edge of Seventeen isn't exactly in that particular pedigree but it is still is a worthy addition to the genre. 

Overall Score: 7/10