Horror movies, like many other things, follow trends. One that has been occurring in recent years are films centred around deadly escape rooms. Most of which are called ‘Escape Room’. Play or Die is a 2019 Belgian horror film with this premise.
What initially sets Play or Die apart is that instead of taking place in a single room, the characters must solve puzzles that lead them to an abandoned mental hospital where a game called ‘Paranoia’ begins. It’s clear that the game they are embarking on is different from the other escape room films which typically seem to take place in fairly standard escape room set ups (providing the characters with a sense of safety). Unfortunately, the setting is about the only interesting element of Play or Die and it is rather wasted on the six ill defined players.
2019 Nexus Factory
The film mainly focuses on players Lucas and Chloe, a couple who reunite within the first five minutes following a break up a year earlier. It’s an entirely pointless addition as after a very brief argument, they kiss and make up. The pair of them are joined in the game by four other players. There’s Ray and Maxine, both characters who gets so little screen time, they could be removed from the film without any real consequence (this is especially egregious in the case of Maxine). The other two players are Naomi and Jablowski. They get slightly more attention, with Naomi playing the red herring role of a dangerous former patient who naturally gets the blame when bodies start to show up. Apart from Lucas and Chloe, these characters don’t really do much and are really only on screen during their death scenes (Maxine doesn’t even get one of these). There’s nothing to interest the viewer about them and their deaths don’t really have any impact. The death scenes themselves aren’t anything special either. Jablowski gets a slightly gorier one than the others but even that isn’t enough to make the film interesting.
This isn’t to say that Lucas and Chloe are given much to set them apart. Chloe gets some vague backstory about being committed due to depression. Lucas is set up as some kind of child prodigy with his own backstory being revealed right at the end with flashbacks. It’s a real shame because the flashbacks might have been the most interesting part of the entire film and offered up a narrative that looked a lot more horrifying than a handful of very dull escape room traps.
2019 Nexus Factory
Apart from the lacklustre characters, the main issue with the film is that it wastes its opportunities. The plot, what little there is, has elements in it that if they were done well could be fantastic. The filmmakers try to pull off a Norman Bates style twist around the identity of the film’s killer but its done in a nonsensical way with so many plotholes that is more likely to leave the viewer frustrated than anything else.
This film isn’t a gore fest. It isn’t a tense slasher or a clever psychological work. It’s just… dull.
If you want a film involving death traps, I’d suggest the 1997 film Cube. If you really want an escape room based film, I’d personally recommend the 2017 Escape Room starring Skeet Ulrich (not to be confused with the other 2017 Escape Room featuring the most unlikable characters ever, or the 2019 Escape Room… we need some more inventive titles)
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