A group of teens find a supernatural entity that is using a game to kill them off one by one; unless you play by the rules.
Director Jeff Wadlow is no stranger to the genre. The underrated meta-slasher Cry Wolf was a simple, yet intelligent take on PG-13 horror/thrillers. With Truth Or Dare, and Blumhouse in tow, he attempts to capture similar teenage themes of trust, denial, and the fact that your closet friend could be a liar.
What works for this film is its ever evolving sense of menace. The entity really bares down on each characters flaws. Each "kill" has relevant motivation and pushes the rating to the max. The facial effects are decent and creepy.
What works against the film are the characters. Most of them are disposable. Merely there to add death scenes and nothing more. Additionally, several scenes which could've added more to certain character arcs simply cut away to move the story along, but leave possible dramatic elements to rot to get to the "horror." The most notable negative is the cast. While not god awful, they did well considering, it was hard accommodating a bulk of the cast. Half of which were total dicks, the remaining cast holds so many secrets from each other that we wonder how they managed to be friends so long. Oh, long enough to fill an hour and a half.
If you love mostly forgettable characters, twists on familiar games, and twisted rule based supernatural thrillers like Ouija and/or Final Destination; Truth Or Dare is for you. Give it a spin. I dare you...
