What would you do for $250,000? Such provocative questions have invited much scope for fun and psychological interest in the genre, as human morals are measured and tested against the want for financial reward. Would You Rather? is one of the recent ventures to have hopped aboard this concept and here, in his directorial debut, E.L. Katz examines this dark theme in this black comedy horror.
When middle-aged new father Craig wakes up one morning to find an eviction notice stapled to his door and is let go from his job later that day, he hits a dead end. His financial worries for his wife and newborn are unfaceable as he watches the weight of the world sit unfairly on his shoulders from a tacky bar down town. So when he bumps into an old friend who starts getting friendly with rich couple Colin and Violet, Craig wilfully joins in and thinks he’s struck gold when the couple start giving them money to down their shots. But things turn violent and start reaching absurd extremities when the ‘game’ is resumed at their mansion and money begins to be bet in its thousands.
The one night
that comprises the plot’s framework starts out like a more mature Hangover with drinking dares, goofy
behaviour and laddish bets eliciting random boozy intimacy. Though this
provokes a few sleazy sniggers, its familiarity will cause a few to sneer at
its tediousness. But the interest is quick to pick up when the tipsy trio and
an unconscious Craig head back to the mansion, and when its initial turning
point sees a domineering Vince persuade Craig to turn the tables and put the
power in their hands. From then onwards the situation walks an intriguing line
and this soon to be overused concept heads down a more ambitious and fulfilling
path. Friendships are tested and the primal desperation for money takes a back
seat to competition, greediness and revenge. Personalities unravel and switch
places, while the point of no return fades into the bleak distance as the two
friends battle it out for Colin’s cash.
Exactly
what it says on the tin, the cheap thrills are plentiful with its sheer,
trenchant brutality (some that deserve a ‘don’t try this at home’ forewarning
label), while its contrasting overt dark undertones are well handled to bring
more depth and substance to the predicament of Katz’s characters. The theory
that ‘money makes people do mad things, just as people do mad things for money’
couldn’t be better envisaged, as Katz gives Cheap
Thrills the edge by interestingly perceiving both angles from the rich and
powerful members of society to the working class.
Healy (The Innkeepers, Compliance) really does
shine as a family man in despair that pushes his own limits to the point of
frenzy, while Embry makes for a satisfying mismatch for the underdog. Koechner
tones down his characteristic brashness but is as eccentric and dominant as
ever, as his manipulative character gets his kicks from destroying the lives of
others. And, while Paxton has a more subtle role than she’s been used to in Last House in the Left (2009), The Innkeepers (2011) and, more
recently, Static (2013), she plays
her part as Colin’s spoilt, inconspicuously twisted trophy girlfriend.
Its
hybridity of genres provides an entertaining and well-balanced flick, naturally
playing off serious elements with a comic value – a trait which was no doubt an
influence from his former involvement in the genre and working relationship
with Adam Wingard (having written and produced Home Sick and co-written Pop
Skull, among several other credits.) Toying with black humour and calamity
until the bitter (and it’s a very bitter) end, the final scene ends it the only
way it could have – with one cruel, inappropriate yet fitting chuckle.
VERDICT: A smart and damn right fun flick- a good time to be had by all. Having already
been acquired to direct a segment of anthology ABCs of Death 2, which is set to
be released next year, it wouldn’t be surprising if Katz became a household
name in horror.
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