Movie Review – Escape Room – escape the room, or die trying

So, I watched this film a few weeks ago now, and my review has been sat in my notes app for ages, waiting for me to remember about it.

I remembered about it.

That's why I'm now here!

Let me introduce the film, and then we can get into my review!

Escape Room is a psychological thriller about six strangers who find themselves in circumstances beyond their control and must use their wits to find the clues or die.

My Review!

Six people, all with seemingly nothing in common with each other. And yet, there is something they do have in common. Someone they trust has given them a box, which opens to reveal a note. A ticket, in a way, to enter an escape room. No one has beaten it. If you win, you win $10,000. So, six strangers find themselves sat in a waiting room together, waiting to be led into a room and locked in. 

But they are already locked in. The escape room starts with the waiting room. Room after room, different horrors await them in each. Each room has a theme, something that they have to try and beat in order to get out. And yet, sometimes, their attempts at escape are what cause the horrors to worsen.

The six are not the kind of people who would normally associate with each other. Zoey, an incredibly smart student. Ben, who works in a grocery store. Mike, a truck driver. Amanda, an army veteran. Danny, who has completed many an escape room before. And Jason, a stock trader. They are all very different, and in the face of danger, they can either band together, or clash, fighting each other. There is no time for them to process anything before the next thing is thrown at them, and it’s all they can do to stay sane, let alone alive, long enough to make it to the next room. 

This film is very action packed. With the knowledge that every room will try to kill them in some way, you are kept on the edge of your seat, especially when nothing seems to happen to begin with. You are waiting for something to change, for a timer and panic to set in, and then you sit, hoping the timer never reaches zero, and that no one loses their life. 

There are characters I loved in this film, which, to be fair, was most of them. None of them are in their comfort zone, each room holds something against them, something personal, that makes it hard for them to cope, but while some try to help the others make it through, there is one in particular who does not seem to care. I don’t really think it’s a spoiler in any way to say this person was Jason. He is arrogant, and seems to think he is better than everyone else there. My favourites were Zoey, Ben and Amanda. Zoey is an absolutely lovely person, who tries to help everyone, without sometimes realising she’s the one that needs help, and she seems to be the one the others become friends with quickly, even though she is quiet and shy, because of how nice she is. 

There are some things that absolutely fascinate me, and how things can be thought out in so much detail is one of them. I have never done an escape room, but I would love to try one (not one like in this film though…). The way clues are hidden, how everything in the room seems to have a purpose, you just have to be clever enough to put things together… the amount of work that must’ve gone into, not only sorting the sets, but putting every little detail in, making sure everything makes sense, and that everything has a purpose - I can only imagine how much time it must’ve taken to create this film. People who solve escape rooms are smart, but the people who make them? And not only that, but make several, link them together, and make a movie out of them? It’s absolutely amazing to think about. 

The ending of this film hinted at a sequel. Well, a little more than hinted, it may as well have had a large neon sign that said ‘there is a sequel’. I have looked it up, and there is a second movie, which I will have to get my hands on, if it’s anything like the first. I have discovered what my current favourite kind of movie is, and it involves characters I love in mortal danger, with a hint of feeling unsafe weaved through it, along with an overall sense of wondering what is real and what is happening. It’s a very tense movie style. I love it. This film is one of them. If you like whatever kind of film it is that I just described, you will love this one. 

And done!

I won't spend long chatting down here, because I'm hungry and want to get this post finished and ready before I eat.

So I'll end it quickly!

That's all for now...

Bye!