Review of Corporate Animals (2019) by Thequietgamer — 05 Sep 2021

Hard to believe this came from the same guy who brought us The Overnight and Creep 1 and 2. It just feels so flat and pedestrian. Of course, unlike those three aforementioned films this is the first time Patrick Brice is working with someone else's script. So perhaps that's why this isn't up to his usual level of quality.

It is fitfully amusing. There are actually some really good lines here and there. The problem is that it's often trying way too hard to actively be funny. Something that can be seen in things like the poorly conceived, hallucination induced animated sequence that's ugly to look at and comes off as a desperate, unnecessary attempt to inject some life into the proceedings.

It also doesn't go as far with the premise as it could have. Trapping a bunch of corporate jerks underground and forcing them to survive could have led to a lot of messed up scenarios, but outside of a singular act of cannibalism things are shockingly tame throughout. They don't even squabble all that much. Mostly saving the bickering for their manipulative, self-absorbed boss rather than turning on each other.

This is good for the occasional laugh. You get some particularly humorous performances from Calum Worthy and Karan Soni. The latter of whom finally gets something larger than a supporting role, which is great because he really is a special talent on the scene right now. Shame it didn't happen in a better film. Here's hoping Brice can get back on track with Creep 3 and his upcoming Netflix exclusive. His prior work has been good enough for me to give him another chance. I would just hate for this to mark the beginning of some kind of decline.

6.