DarkGame

Netflix practically begged me to watch this movie. It was relentless, like an overeager friend who won't stop texting you about their latest obsession. So, with expectations lower than a slug doing the limbo, I gave in.

Now, was the plot groundbreaking? Absolutely not. But then, BOOM, Ed Westwick appeared, smouldering like a human campfire and doing his best "I'm totally American" act. Did my rating get a little Westwick bump? I mean... who's to say? (Spoiler: It did.)

What I did like was the ensemble vibe. More characters, more dialogue. On the downside, the lighting crew must've called in sick, because in some scenes, I was squinting harder than someone reading the fine print on a New Year New Me 2025 gym membership. Game of Thrones Season 8 flashbacks, anyone?

Now, let's talk about the dark web subplot. Creepy as hell. My overactive brain instantly filed it under "probably happening IRL," like a mix of Taken and Hostel. And honestly? The film was disturbing without being a gore fest, which I appreciated. Sometimes implying horror is way more effective than splattering it everywhere. Let me do a little mental scarring on my own, thanks.

My golden rule: If a movie doesn't hook me in 15 minutes, I'm out. But this one passed the test. Why? The lack of slow, soul-draining silent scenes helped. So did the abundance of characters. Oh, and Ed Westwick. Did I mention Ed Westwick? Swoon.

Firstly, this film is set in Portland Oregon but entirely shot in Bristol. It seems like all the actors are British and have to adopt American or Eastern European accents, which is clearly too challenging for them as everyone sounds ridiculous. Just make the film British and the dialogue won't sound so forced and awkward. Secondly it's a pretty poor execution of a tired idea. Full of silly montages of people "working" and no character development so you don't really care what happens to any of them. Sometimes films get made and you wonder how. Like, who said yes to this?

Give it a miss I think..

For the love of all that is holy... LEARN TO LIGHT A FREAKING SCENE! Every. Single. Scene. Is backlit with daylight coming through the windows and ZERO fill lighting. In a police station, apparently they cannot afford to pay the power bill. Not a single light is on. At night, there is the equivalent of 4 watt night light bulbs "lighting" the scene, again from behind, so that the main figures are silhouetted. There is one scene in the killer's basement where there is literally a dual fixture flood light - FLOOD light, mind you - that apparently puts out as much area light as MAYBE a single 40 watt bulb. And that is being generous. I don't know who started this ignorant, film-school-dropout trend of poor lighting, but they should be forced to participate in one of these "Russian Roulette" games.

OK... enough about the lack of lighting. The movie itself... meh. It's been done before, and in much better fashion. There is no reason for the killer or his games. There is no rhyme nor reason to the "contestants" choosing. There is no reason for the convict that is called in to help, and then once he does, he's completely forgotten. As a matter of fact, once the feds come in and take over (like they always do), towards the end, the just aren't there. No reason. No mention.

Oh, but just for checklist's sake, there is one of each... just because. No matter who you are, you WILL see yourself in this movie. As a matter of fact, I have never seen so many foreign language speakers in America in my life. I will give it that the usual suspects are not all knowing and all powerful. The casting is the only thing "current." But It is still noteworthy just for the sake of transparency.

Nah... don't even bother with this one.

Disappointed! The idea of the film was good - executed in a miserable way.

Set design - meh Costume design - Bad Acting - more than enough room for improvement Script/ dialogue - a lot of cliché tech and law terminology Music/score - okay

Overall felt like a high school project, so I can imagine it would be convincing for 12yr olds.

It was like watching one of those fake prank videos on Facebook - just irritatingly pretentious.

The events are said to take place on the dark web - I'm confident that zero research was conducted regarding the etiquette and culture surrounding the dark web and 'red rooms'.

Same goes for law enforcement - their meetings are cheesy, the swat team are cringe and felt like I was watching a YouTube skit or a SNL sketch. I'm impressed at how little effort can be made into a movie that potentially had a great film writer.

Everything felt really vague! ... Not to be confused with ambiguity (in which case would be somewhat suspenseful) It is a watered down version of something that could've been tasty.

Everything felt a little too clean and 'on the nose' with no depth or character development.

It's like when Crime programs like CSI used to do that thing where they click one button to "enhance image" ... Like bruh 😆 that's the feeling I got when watching this - like we're just supposed to accept it haha.

Gave 2 stars because it MIGHT be funny if you're high.

This was a confusing watch..... why they have tried to make it an American film, when the streets (with the newly introduced 20mph road markings and Bristol landmarks) and actors are clearly british, but they are putting on god awful accents, the captains uniform is something you would pick up from a fancy dress shop and even police department looks like a sadly made up job centre office.... And the plot, ummmm..... not great! Don't even get me started on the lighting, was it in the room with us? Hardly anything likeable about this movie that I was tricked into watching with it being in the top 10 on Netflix, how?