Movie Review – Truth or Dare

We’ll give TRUTH OR DARE (2018) exactly the review it deserves –short and brutal. If the premise feels like the thinnest of plots, you’re right. Anyone who plays the game is possessed by a Mexican demon (because it’s a demon from Mexico) and there’s no way to stop it. I just saved you the price of admission and 100 minutes. You’re welcome.

It’s usual cadre of horror Network and Netflix people starring as unlikeable characters – college kids on spring break in Mexico. Anyway, 5 college kids drink, carouse and meet a mysterious stranger who leads them to an abandoned church where the play a game of Truth or Dare, proving that the friends you make in college are less loyal, more jealous and extremely fragile.

All of the bases are covered – three woman: one good girl (Lucy Hale), one tramp, and one lush, and four men: one nice guy (Tyler Posey), a jerk, a gay best friend and a creeper. They’re all unlikable and part of the joy in terrible movies is watching unlikeable characters get their comeuppance, but the poor writing even managed to screw this up.

Unattached and naïve, Olivia makes conversation with a Daniel Radcliff lookalike (Landon Liboiron ) guy that clearly has her number, and he all of her friends away for more booze and a great party – you know all of the stuff we tell Spring Breakers NOT TO DO ON VACATION – only to play a game no one really wants to play. During the first round the usual dares and uncomfortable truths are revealed and now everyone is mad so they leave. Back in the States, and A WEEK LATER the game inexplicably starts again.

Because consistency.

You heard me. Truth or Dare takes a break for a week while everyone gets settled back into their everyday lives. Then the dying begins – you can’t refuse to play and if you can’t complete the dare you die. The rules for this change as the numbers dwindle and it’s stupid.

The police are suspicious, but what are cops but dumb adults who only believe facts, AMIRITE? This is what passes for story when you don’t have a third act.

Or a second act.

Or a plot.

Everything devolves (further) after this. People start dying, there’s a weird relay between Mexico and the police station, and it gives this weird impression that it’s super easy to cross into Mexico 100 times a week. The audience s treated to lots of internet searching with the dreaded phrases, “check this out”, friends become enemies who become frenemies, and there is no resolution because of what Olivia does at the end – a stupid selfish tactic that does absolutely nothing to resolve her own situation so the audience is left hoping for a painful death for everyone left.

Truth or Dare was a waste of time, and at an hour and 40 minutes was a loooooong waste of time. We won’t even talk about the “demon” that makes joker-like faces, which stopped being scary or unsettling the third time it happened. I mean, I know Hell is Legion and all of that, but this is the one demon still roaming the earth? It took four professional screenwriters to crap – sorry, I mean “craft” this out and for a Blumhouse Production, I’m disappointed. If this is the garbage sneaking into the production pipeline, Blumhouse will go the way of Full Moon in no time.

And that’s unfortunate because previous productions prove BHP is better than this. At least it was. Truth or Dare is lazy and derivative and unless you’ve lost a bet, there’s no reason for you to see this movie.

Truth or Dare (2018) is rated PG-13 for swears, awkward sexytimes, irresponsible amounts of booze, irresponsible acts bright on by irresponsible amounts of booze, and a demonic face that stopped being scary about halfway through the trailer.