Meander - Survival Instinct

This film reminds me far more of the current 'Escape Room' type films, than 'Cube', other than it is a single person, and not a group.

Since there is little dialog, it may be the type of film to watch on a second monitor of your computer system while you work on something else.

Curious, since the song and dialog at the beginning are in English in the version I saw (DVD title Meander, Gravitas Ventures release) but the ending dialog was in French with English subtitles.

People on here saying its horrible are full of poop. Yup it definitely draws inspiration from the cube but its totally different in many ways. Its weird and creepy af. Almost didn't watch because of all the negative reviews but I'm glad I did. I was entertained and yelling at my TV the whole time. The claustrophobia aspect alone was enough to terrify me lol. Bottom line it was a decent flick.

Ok, so when the movie started out i thought it was going to be pretty good, i always liked mystery movies where someone wakes up in an unknown location and has to solve mysteries and puzzles to get out. To the films credit it had a lot of good set work and cinematography, but the main issue with it is how it gradually falls apart the longer it goes on. Its pretty clear that the writers were just making up stuff as they went along, apparent by how everything that happens in it gets progressively weirder and weirder, to the point where it gets completely nonsensical and all-over-the-place by the end. Theres also a couple conveniences in the script, theres several moments in the film where the main character should very well die but just... doesnt, because the plot needs her alive. Also this movie seems to have a similar problem with the movie "circle" and "cadaver" where it doesnt really have any progression or narrative, it just keeps going on and on without accomplishing anything narritive-wise until it hits its runtime. The majority of this movie is just watching a girl crawl through tubes and avoid traps, we didnt really learn much about what was happening until the very end, and until then it just never progresses anything.

Now despite everything ive said about this movie i would still recommend it if youre into the kind of genre, because even though the plot kinda sucks, everything else is pertty good, there were some pretty good puzzles and clever moments in the game itself, just dont expect a very well written plot.

The premise for this film is simple: A woman is kidnapped by a serial killer and left in a deadly obstacle course...which she must navigate her way through before time runs out.

If she fails...she dies.

The whole thing is barely large enough to crawl through and is filled with puzzles and booby traps.

On her wrist is a light with a timer on it.

It gives her 11 minutes to complete each section.

As you might expect...most of the film is just the actress crawling around what looks like a system of vents.

She's not the only one crawling around in there, however.

As, at times, she is pit against other survivors...whom she must fight in order to survive.

Apparently, the whole system is designed to be failed.

Because you need to fail at least once- after which you are sent back to the beginning, to start again- before you can progress to the end.

It's all very reminiscent of Vincenzo Natali's Cube series.

But this one is clearly meant to be read as a challenge where you face your inner demons- even the devil himself- and win.

Only this isn't a game...it's the spiritual quest of the afterlife.

To free oneself from the cycle of rebirth into the realm of suffering.

To achieve absolute liberation.

Nirvana.

Thus...in the end...it's safe to say she died on the road that day.

But she is still forever, eternal.

A nice little film, with lots of tension inducing moments.

It's no Enter The Void...but it's running off very similar themes.

6.5 out of 10.

Crawl and crawl and crawl

A new French sci-fi mystery where a woman is caught in a series of tunnel with multiple traps.

The movie started out slow, and this really requires some patience before things started to pick up. Honestly, the traps were not too scary like in similar movies. Then, when the twist started, it wasn't too surprising because this was done countless times before. The development of the main character was again, pretty typical, and was supposed to tie to the story. However, it really didn't make a lot of sense and felt cheesy.

There were still things that worked in the movie. Even though the progression was slow, there were still intense scenes that kept me on the edge. The clean camera work and some gores elevated the horror aspect and helped with the scenes.

Overall, it's a mystery that is done better before. 5.5/10.