Truth or Dare, the game you played when you were in high school, has now been turned into a horror film. It seems like something someone should have thought of before now, but maybe they just didn’t have the right people to make it all come together.
I will admit up front that horror films don’t scare me anymore, but I still enjoy watching them. There was quite a few jumps and screams in the theater, though. There was also a lot of laughs.
The film starts with a simple game of Truth or Dare on spring break in Mexico, in an old abandoned mission. The game quickly heats up when secrets are being outed. Carter (Landon Liboiron) had ulterior motives for bringing Olivia (Lucy Hale) and her friends to this mission. When he finally gets his turn, it comes out. He was dared to trick a group of friends into going to the mission and playing the game. He says that Olivia was an easy target and he was okay with other people dying if that meant he didn’t have to. When he gets up to leave, Olivia follows him. Carter tells her the game is real. They have to tell the truth, or they will die. Do the dare, or they die, and if they refuse to play, they will also die. Once you’re in the game, you can’t get out. Olivia and her friends thought it was a big joke.
The friends went back to college, and suddenly Olivia starts seeing the words “Truth or Dare” everywhere. The game followed them back, but this wasn’t the game you’ve played over drinks with your friends. This game learns your deepest and darkest secrets and uses them against you and your friends. You think telling the truth will get you through, think again, the game controls what you choose. Picking truth will make you reveal your darkest secrets and picking dare will push you to your limits.
The writers were geniuses for making this into a horror film, but you can’t have a good horror movie without a good backstory, and the story has that as well. Once the friends realize that the game isn’t ending, they have to figure out how to get out alive. Olivia, Markie (Violett Beane) and Lucas (Tyler Posey) track down the truth of how the deadly version got started.
The other thing this film does well is giving the main characters a lot of layers and making you want to see them make it out of the game alive. Sometimes we just watch a horror movie to see the death scenes, but it’s more enjoyable when you are rooting for the characters too. Olivia and Markie are best friends for life, but this game brings out tensions in their relationship. Markie and Lucas are about to move in together, but not before the game reveals a secret. The game changes them and tests their relationships and their beliefs.
You’ll enjoy the ride Truth or Dare takes you on, and you’ll never see the ending coming. That’s the best part. So hold on to your seat, after watching this movie, you’ll never want to play Truth or Dare again.
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