Review of Would You Rather (2013) by Teganoboingson — 23 Aug 2021

I don't think Would you Rather is bad as some people say, but there is definitely some glaring flaws. First, the characters. I think the actors do a good job at portraying the fear and anxiety of being stuck in a death game. But I felt as if the characters had some room to be fleshed out with their backstories and motivations.

Next, the at sometime confusing directing. For Example, the set up for Dr. Barden going to crash the death game is completely pointless. They take multiple scenes to set it up but there's little to no payoff as he's offed practically as soon as he arrives at the manor. Earlier in the movie there is a scene where Iris, the main character helps another one of the characters, Linda into a building. This literally sets up nothing besides a wave between Iris and Linda I guess. Which also does nothing. Those are just some specific examples of pointless scenes, but there's plenty of them across the film. Then the barrel round seems very contrived. If I were them I would take the barrel any day. The average person can breath underwater for 60-90 seconds. I believe it's a much better option than a random punishments. But at some points I did like the at times slower paced parts which really makes me feel for the characters.

Lastly, the ending. To me the ending is extremely unsatisfying to me. It almost makes the main plot as pointless as the Dr. Barden sub-plot. It feels like it's sad just to be sad and it doesn't feel satisfying to the viewer. There's little to no previous foreshadowing and comes completely out of left field. I feel as if it isn't a good twist and it could of been handled better. If It would've been handled better I would of at least felt more satisfied at the ending. But I think a more bitter-sweet ending where Iris' brother survives would've done the best. An ending where they play into the aftermath where she saves her brother, but she has to deal with the trauma and survivor's guilt of being the winner of death game.