By Jason Kerr
An invite to a dinner and an after-dinner game between a group of adults appears to be a normal activity. Sometimes drink and honesty gets the better of us and sometimes it can become tense and even sinister. Nicholas Wendl’s and Dani Abrams Stupid Games focuses on the latter.
Three young men and three young women get together for an entertaining evening, the men have one thing on their mind, fueled by amorous thoughts of who what or maybe’s, they already have their night mapped out. The women seem accommodating initially but their hospitality dilutes with each frame as ulterior motives take over.
The setting of the bulk of the movie is in a darkened room in an apartment that has lost electricity. There is a shift in mood as the lights go out and the candles are lit, darkness and an hourglass become metaphors for time that is about to run out.
There is some really good writing here from Tanner Adams. The cinematography of Christian Klien creates a great sense of an inescapable outcome from the moment the screen goes black and then is lit with a dim orange light from the candles.
The opening phrase on the screen says ‘Play stupid games win stupid prizes. What we see is a good film, suspenseful with characters changing tact and mood as the unsettling atmosphere and the occult guarantee a more sinister outcome.
Evil can lurk anywhere, human, animal or object, in the midst of madness, the game has to be completed. Whether you are a social butterfly or a party pooper, sometimes it is okay to decline an invitation.
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