Truth or Dare- Review

On Wednesday 11th April I was invited to an advanced preview screening of Truth or Dare. I stayed well away from the trailers because I'm noticing that a lot of films have been ruined for me or have given me expectations prior to the actual viewing of a movie I'm supposed to be watching. Anyway, I already had expectations that were considerably low prior to the screening. With a cast that consisted of a few teen icons, I expected this film to be nothing more than a cheap, predictable teen horror flick.

Brought to you by the producers of Happy Death Day and Get Out, you can already begin to assume just how this clichéd slasher will unfold.

A group of friends travel to Mexico for their final spring break before graduation. On their final night, Olivia falls for the charm of a stranger and ropes her friends into a game of truth or dare. The rules are simple, but staying in the game turns out to be less than easy.

The performances were shocking and I don't mean that as homage to the genre. I mean they were so generic, anticipated and unoriginal that there really wasn't any room to even attempt to appreciate the characters for who they were and what they were doing. I tried to remain as open minded as possible but within the first five minutes it became pretty evident that the performances would be average to mediocre and the storyline would follow suit. These characters are the kind that have been written and used over and over. At times, some parts were just too dramatic to be considered realistic. If the idea was to appear like normal teenagers reacting to abnormal situations, it was anything but. What more can you expect from actors in their mid to late twenties, attempting to play teenagers and reviving their careers long after their defining TV show roles ended?

Now, this film falls under the horror/ thriller genre. For a thriller, you would expect maybe some creepy to borderline horror scenes (depending on the film). You would expect heart-pulsating moments, adrenaline bursts and some kind of psychological shift. For a horror, you'd at least expect to jump out of your seat or be scared shitless. For the ones who usually brave the horror genre, you might feel just a tad bit fearful. This film fails to live up to those genres. There are no moments worthy of a heart rate slightly on the rise, no moments of feeling like your heart will fall out of your posterior. The only thing this film tries to contribute to these genres is some half-arsed jump scares. Ultimately, one may agree that this flick was more 'creepy' if anything. The jump scares were really only the result of max volume suddenly and an entity appearing onto the screen. Perhaps you might think that the stretched out distortion of character's faces when asking 'truth or dare' may be a horror element. For that, I have only to say that it is nothing more than a copycat version of Soundgarden's Black Hole Sun music video. If you don't believe me, go take a look. Best five minutes and twenty seconds of your life. It is disappointing that there are so many issues with this film. I think the only thing I can ever so slightly appreciate here is the violence. It isn't gory but at least it offered some hype for all of about five seconds.

Granted, there will be some audiences who will praise this film. This is most likely due to the fact that the cast for this film are familiar faces to lovers of Pretty Little Liars and Teen Wolf. (So do expect audiences commonly around the 13-17 age group). If you want a cast with zero on-screen chemistry, a poorly written script and some faux Mexican folklore, go for your bloody life. This film could have gone many ways and could have been much constructed than it was. It ultimately is just another quick waste of filmography pumped out for marketing.

Score: 3.5/10