Main cast: David Oakes (Justin), Tom Kane (Felix), Liam Boyle (Paul), Jack Gordon (Chris), Florence Hall (Gemma), Jennie Jacques (Eleanor), Alexander Vlahos (Luke), and Jason Maza (Jonesy)
Director: Tom Boyle
It’s the same old story. A bunch of teens play a trick on the shy and weird Felix, and then they receive an invitation to his party. Naturally, these kids accept, because hey, Felix’s family is loaded and free booze is free booze, right? They get diverted into a cabin in the woods by Felix’s brother Justin, and soon, their game of truth and dare reveals some unfortunate truths. Felix hanged himself a while back, and a note was found on him. Unfortunately for these kids, Justin and his father are the “eye for an eye” type of the people, which is why the kids soon find themselves tied to chairs as Justin grills them on who sent the note to Felix. He devises torture games and more to keep the party happening, naturally.
Truth or Die boasts a truly unlikable bunch of teens, except perhaps Gemma. But this movie then poses some interesting questions. Can you claim to be better than the others, if you watch and let them do terrible things without anything more than some token protest? And you continue to consort with these people? There is also an interesting question as to who is really Felix’s killer, for the movie will soon reveal that blaming the bullies may be an oversimplification of the circumstances leading up to his suicide.
The thing is, it’s hard to care about this movie because the characters are all so exaggerated and over the top that they are hard to take seriously. They may as well dress up in Looney Tunes costumes, especially David Oakes who over-enunciates each melodramatic line like he’s doing Shakespeare on coke or something. The body count is low and most of the time these people are just screaming at one another when some gruesome torture porn on these hateful louts would have been most welcome.
But the most misguided thing about this movie is the ending. While I can’t deny that this person deserves to live after playing dirty like a pro, this person is also the most despicable piece of dung of the entire lot, so to have this person gloat and walk away is like a slap in the face after having sloughed through this whole dreary thing.
Saw meets a bunch of adults who try hard to act like teenagers – could have been a good idea, but in this particular case, not at all.
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