"What if Jigsaw had a dating service?" It would look a lot like "Soul Mates". Two people are chained together and forced to go through a deadly maze as a twisted way to see if they are soul mates.
I can't tell if the writers have a cynical outlook on dating or are just having fun pushing the envelope (or maybe both?). The movie escalates with each scene, and does a good job raising the level of grotesqueness.
I expected low-budget schlock but was pleasantly surprised to find everyone doing a very serviceable job. Neal McDonough, playing the charmingly sadistic Matchmaker, is a joy to watch as he visibly loves hamming it up as this mustache-twirling sort of villain.
After about an hour of the movie, I had an idea where it was gonna go, and I would've liked to have seen that version. But I also really like the direction they went here too. It elevated it to something that might have made the movie forgettable and brought it up to something that has a little bit more weight. I could see if some people don't go for it though.
It's nowhere near the level of this year's "Sanctuary," which is also just a man and woman in a room for 90mins. That movie's a cat-and-mouse chess game of lying, manipulation, and blackmail with tons of intrigue. "Soul Mates" is less high-brow thriller and more straight-up gore and horror.
I liked this movie, and I'm glad I took the time to go see it. The high-concept minimalism delivers, and I was invested the whole time with all the twists and turns. If watching a minimal 90min darkly-fun horror movie sounds like something you'd enjoy, I recommend it. Overall, I give it a high B+.
