Play Or Die (2019)

Based on a novel by Franck Thilliez, entitled "Puzzle", Play Or Die is a typical example of what you get when you have a first-time director, Jacques Kluger, making something that he believes manages to deliver something trendy with a bit of a twist.

Charley Palmer Rothwell is Lucas, and Roxane Mesquida is Chloé. The two friends work together to find the location of an intense "escape room" game called Paranoia. It's set in an abandoned mental hospital, and a few other players have managed to find the place. Everyone is soon made to realise that the ultimate prize for solving each riddle isn't just being the person who beat the game, it's getting away with your life intact.

From the very earliest scenes, showing Rothwell and Mesquida solving the clues that lead them to the location of the main game, Play Or Die has a problem in making the whole premise seem remotely plausible. Nothing is done to help show the lure of the game, nothing seems so tricky that only the best of the best would crack any of the clues, and it all just seems ridiculous. Things only get worse once the leads reach the main location, where most mistakes will end in certain death. The solutions to the problems become more complicated, and participants are expected to solve time-sensitive puzzles while the threat of instant death looms ever larger over them.

It would seem that we can lay the blame squarely with Kluger, who also co-wrote the script with Amiel Bartana (another first-timer). What may have worked in novel form, and I am only supposing here, just doesn't work onscreen, at least not without the distraction of some more style and wit that this is, sadly, lacking. Any film working within this realm is potentially ridiculous (from the Saw series to the many Escape Room films that have popped up lately), but they can often be enjoyable at the same time, depending on the logic and fiendishness of the traps, and the cast of characters being made to go through them.

This is another area in which the movie stumbles. Rothwell and Mesquida aren't the strongest of leads, with the former actually being slightly annoying for a lot of the runtime. It's not necessarily his fault, the script paints him as a glum figure who doesn't even seem to enjoy the thrill of the puzzle-solving (which adds to the lack of believability). Mesquida, on the other hand, at least gets to be enthusiastic and energetic for most of her screentime. Disposable supporting players are portrayed by Marie Zabukovec, Thomas Mustin, Daphné Huynh, and Hippolyte de Poucqes.

There are so many movies out there that are better, and similar, to this. It doesn't matter that this one tries to do something a bit different at the end, I still recommend you check out any of the other films I have mentioned in this review. Or you can watch Nerve if you fancy some light fun, and Would You Rather if you want something darker.

3/10