[Movie] Truth or Dare (2018)

about 2 hours ago

You probably have watched some movies and found yourself questioning the characters; why they made some decisions, why they went ahead to do some things that clearly had elements of concern or danger. In those kinds of moments, you lose a little of the reality that it's a movie, it was scripted and acted. You'll agree this happens more with movies in the horror genre. I mean, the characters do funny and stupid things. Haha.

You might think that way with the movie “Truth or Dare,” a supernatural horror movie that follows six youthful friends and the consequences of their decisions. I don't know why horror movies that have to do with youth usually have that element of partying and having fun, and them ending up in serious trouble, costing some their lives. “Truth or Dare” isn't far from this.

The six friends, Olivia, Markie, Lucas, Penelope, Tyson and Brad travelled to Rosarito, Mexico for spring break, partying and having fun. Perhaps, one of the plights of youthful curiosity is that it can be extreme and tends to have no positive bearing, mostly leading to wrong places and things. The party wasn't enough, they agreed to follow a stranger, Carter to an old and abandoned convent; a creepy place to be, most importantly not at night.

The friends wanted more fun so they had no problem being there to play a game which Carter revealed as Truth or Dare. If only it was just a game. Carter didn't just invite them to play a game. He lured them there to become part of a curse he and his friends ignited some time back in their seemingly reckless adventure for fun which had cost the others their lives. Why did he do that? The more players in the game, the more time it took to go round and back to a player. He was buying time.

Weird things as expected began to happen when they returned home. The game followed them home. They get compelled by hallucinations through people, and other mediums to pick a truth or dare and do as instructed. Here's the problem, when a player refuses to do as instructed or fails, they meet their demise. Well, you would think more would be done with the story except that the demon only used them to play the game on one another; revealing secrets, hidden desires, intentions, and using their weaknesses and likes against them.

It was interesting in its own way; how they did and revealed many things they wouldn't normally. Like Olivia having to expose the truth about her best friend, Markie’s infidelity to her boyfriend Lucas, Penelope dared to walk from one end of the roof to the other while drinking alcohol because she liked drinking, Markie dared to break Olivia’s hand as she was angry with her, and other truth and dare instructions the friends had to play to.

They didn't really use cheap jump scares. But there was probably more that would have been done with the story. Another thing was the face used when the demon possessed a person or was compelling a player to play their round. It was this messed-up Snapchat filter face, with CGI adjustments, which might have been better off as a normal but weird smile. I guess it was their way of trying to communicate the demon’s presence and horror in a way that was not just fearful but also funny. The CGI seemed much though.

The movie had some of the friends lose their lives due to the game. Something to take from it is being mindful of the choices we make and where our curiosities lead us. It won't be like the case of the six friends but even as older people and youth, our curiosities and endless and mindless desire for pleasure can come with dire consequences that we're not ready for. The movie is a fairly good watch, maybe not what horror fans will find really appealing. As a low-budget movie, you wouldn't really expect more.

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