At the End of Eight

The first scene was well done, but unfortunately the movie went downhill from there. The rookie cast and high school direction resulted in laughable moments that were intended to be intense. Giving it three stars for the effort.

The concept was there: a contest to sneak into a house and stay there for 8 hours. "I see you" did it well, so they tried too. However, the movie just stumbles along, literally - the characters enter the house and stumble, and hit everything, making as much noise as possible! Oh, no big deal! I'm not surprised they were found. The "twist" raised it to 3 stars but i can't forgive bad audio editting (voice overs made me think this movie was a foreign film), nor the clumsey screen writing where they tried to advance the plot with weak dialog. I appreciate the motives of each character but not enough to like any of them. I was just so disappointed.

The opening is the only reason I watched it. It was definitely cheesy and short-lived. Seemed amateur and thrown together. While the movie had nothing to do with the popular social media platform, it was.much like the Tiktok "challenges" that have become a thing these days. Maybe that was the point of the movie. To bring awareness and show the very real outcomes that can happen when playing those types of games or in the real world, doing tiktok "challenges" like this. Macbeth was probably the best out of the actors. Much like the movie, my synopsis is short and bland. It had potential of being better I think, but there's not much else I can say to say to hype it up, unfortunately.

Plot

Three young participants sneak into the home of a complete stranger as part of a popular but highly illegal game. The game requires the three players to stay inside for eight hours without being discovered.

Cast

Unfamiliar with anyone in front of or behind the camera.

Verdict

Now straight out of the gate let me praise the writers by saying this is a very unique film, the concept is certainly a new one or at least not something my movie obsessed butt has ever seen before.

Now let me segway into pointing out that the concept is flawed badly and simply didn't work as a feature film. Maybe it would have worked as a short film of less than 30 minutes, here it's unlikable, repetitive and it's impossible to have any empathy with the characters as ultimately they're criminals.

Watch it for the novelty value perhaps, but be aware it's instantly forgettable.

Rants

In a world that celebrates celebrity culture, influencers, commentators, pranks and generally mean spirited ill advised stupid stuff the concept of this movie is 100% believable. I could absolutely see this happening which in turn makes the movie feel realistic. Sadly it still doesn't change the facts, I can't cheer on people who are breaking into someones home for a cash prize and an alarming low one as well.

Breakdown

Very unique concept Concept just doesn't work Forgettable Terrible characters.

I was out of it when the two killers were fist fighting with each other for like 5 minutes upstairs in the bedroom, and the teens decide to go down into the basement rather than run out the front door lol. Why did they do that?!

And besides, they broke into someone's home for a stupid game to win money so I had zero sympathy for any of them. Especially that special idiot who made himself a peanut butter sandwich and drank the homeowner's liquor. I was happy when he was killed.

Then the girl has the gall to say to the homeowner "We didn't do anything!"....Um, yes you did and if you still can't see that after being tied up by the angry homeowner, whose home you broke into you deserve what you get.

There's a lame reveal at the end I won't spoil, but after that part the film tries to make the viewer sympathize and root for the home breakers, but I didn't fall for it and kept on hoping they would meet their deserved demise from the home owners.

I'm giving it 4 stars for the plot and the acting wasn't half bad. And there's the tired trope of giving a long speech with a gun when in reality he would've just fired. I hate when movies pull that because it's not realistic and only served to make the contrived ending which I completely despised. I REALLY hated those final 30 seconds. It was just dumb and sadly entirely expected in today's politically correct films. At least it's short and was free.