Megan, Max, Nina, and Abe have joined Clover on a road trip to try and figure out what happened to her sister Melanie. Naturally we have a massive trope right off the bat with a weird and creepy gas station guy talking to them about missing people. And even guiding them to a place called Glore Valley. A massive storm gets them turned around and driving in circles, culminating in a sudden break in the storm. This was a really cool moment though. 

The storm can still be seen raging around the Visitor Center house they ended up at. Weird clouds in the sky seem to be ringing the area creating a hard line where it is dry on one side and a massive thunderstorm on the other.

In a fantastic twist, all five of the main characters get killed by a slasher well before the 30 minute mark of the movie. But a twist! They all come back to life with the memory of what happened to them. And this time, they see a new building outside. A building that wasn’t there before. And it ties in to the next deadly challenge facing them. But they die. Again. Although in a different way. 

Reset.

And this time we see another new element outside, a water tower. Does each new element added pose some new threat? The first 3 times they die are each wildly different, and there isn’t a return bad guy killing them.

There’s a mystery to unravel here. A ledger where names are written that gives the idea that they can run through some horrific scenario after another at least ten times. Maybe more. But slowly they are learning the rules.

After about 40 minutes into this movie, I had a realization. This feels like Cabin in the Woods. If you remember that movie, a group of people wind up in a cabin with a ton of potential triggers. The one they “chose” winds up being the horror that comes for them. There are bigger stakes at play in that movie. And this isn’t the same. Not the same sort of stakes. Not the same sort of story playing out. But something wild and interesting. This movie is a great companion to Cabin. Would make a great double feature. In Cabin it was one group with a potential of unlimited horrors that could have come for them, but one specific one is killing them. In this it is one group of friends who have to keep going through these different scenarios. Feels like different sides of the same coin. And it is a fun ride. A ride I knew nothing about in advance. 

I was surprised to read that this is based on a video game. I haven’t played many video games recently, but I kinda really want to play this one. 

As an idea, this strikes the right chord with me. To such a degree that I’m starting with a Gold star on this review. There are absolutely times where a concept can sway my rating higher. There are a few problems with this movie, but it really was a very enjoyable experience for me. I love the way it ended, reminded me of another aspect of Cabin in the Woods.