The opening of this starts with an intriguing set up. We have three 20 something friends that rob houses. Caspar, Iris, and Dodge. Iris is the lookout as Caspar and Dodge break into a home in broad daylight. When the homeowners get back unexpectedly, she pretends to be soliciting for an environmental issue to give the other two time to get away.

After they are away from the opening heist Caspar finds out his dad has been abducted by a loan shark. A loan shark that is willing to kill his dad over a $10,000 gambling debt. Caspar offers to come up with the money to get the loan shark off his dad’s back.

This plot point threw me off a bit. This trio is robbing what appear to be high end homes. Getting $10,000 should have been pretty easy for them. It’s not like they are robbing convenience stores for a couple hundred bucks.

Iris says she has a potential job that they could pull to help. An upscale home where they are having a dinner party and need some serving staff. Iris sets up for them to do it. It seems peculiar though because Caspar and Dodge aren’t very “presentable” for such a job. And the family is unbearably rich. There are four 20 something kids at the party, and they are very upper class annoying snobs. The party also consists of the patriarch and matriarch of the family, and a single guest (Milo) with his plus one.

Caspar and Dodge try to get into the family safe as the dinner party starts. The party is actually like an addict 12 step meeting, where they talk about being sober. But their sobriety comes in the form of not having killed anyone recently.

All that changes though when one of the rich kids, Elliot, kills Dodge. It doesn’t look good for the two remaining robbers though as it is roughly 8 to 2.

Those odds aren’t as bad as they appear to be as the family likes to play with their prey. The patriarch tries to buy off kid with a payoff of $10,000. An offer that makes no sense. It is only a number that pays off his dad’s debt. But in a home with a family that appears to have millions, the offer of $10,000 to buy off having killed his friend is a bit insulting. When Caspar ups the hush money to $100,000 though, the response is that amount will be tough to get. There is a disconnect with modern life here though. Don’t get me wrong, $10,000 is a lot of money, but in the world presented here it really isn’t. There’s a line where it’s a lot of money and where it’s a meaningless amount. This family lives in a massive mansion. If you were offering a bribe to someone, they likely have a million in the safe. Or they have a variety of things worth a fortune on the walls. And cars. 

Things escalate though and with the help of the family daughter, Caspar and Iris might stand a chance of getting away.

SPOILER SECTION.

Well, more spoilery anyway. Caspar survives using a Katana found in a storage room and gets away. With a bag full of money. When he goes to pay off the loan shark though, he decides to use the katana rather than the cash. But he doesn’t really know how to use it. We all think we could use a sword, and we are right. We could stab something with one. Might even be able to kill someone with one if they aren’t expecting it. But using a sword is strenuous work. And if you are fighting someone who is more of a fighter, they are not going to be an easy target. The bouncer at the club wouldn’t be caught unaware as a dude with a sword walks up on him. He even says something like “what are you gonna do with that sword.” And then lets him walk up and swing it at him. And there are about 5 more people he kills after that as he rescues his dad.

Some of this movie was really good. Some of it was bad. There is an interesting story here mixed in with bits of bad story. Some interesting characters here mixed in with some bad acting. Some good character development mixed in with some bad stereotypes.

Are there better movies out there? Absolutely. Quite a lot of them. Are there worse movies out there? Absolutely. Quite a lot of them. And I have recently watched a bunch of them. For me the good outweighed the bad in this. Just barely. An intriguing story concept can reel me in and overshadow bad elements that should sink it. In the end though, this felt like a solid 6 for me as movies go. But I liked the idea enough that I’m going with a bump up to a 7.