Guns Akimbo (2019)
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A computer programmer is forced into a live-streamed death match with guns bolted into his hands.
The story
In an alternative near future, an underground fight club and a criminal organization known as Skizm achieve massive popularity by live-streaming real death matches between criminals. Miles Lee Harris, an ordinary computer programmer, criticizes the spectacle online until he is targeted by the criminal kingpin, Riktor. After being kidnapped, drugged, and beaten, Miles wakes up to discover that guns have been bolted into both of his hands. He is forced to participate in the Skizm games, where he is pitted against Nix, the organization's deadliest killer, in a high-stakes fight for survival.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
In an alternative near future, the criminal organization Skizm live-streams real death matches. Miles Lee Harris, a programmer who insults the spectacle online, is kidnapped by the kingpin Riktor. Miles wakes up with guns bolted into his hands and is forced to fight Nix, the game's deadliest killer. After a series of escapes and encounters with his ex-girlfriend Nova, Miles is captured by the police, who intend to use him as bait for Nix. It is revealed that Nix is the daughter of Detective Degraves, who was driven insane by Riktor's past actions. A mole in the police force, Stanton, kills Degraves and gives Miles a deadline to kill Nix or Nova will be killed. Miles eventually teams up with Nix to take down Riktor. Nix sacrifices herself to destroy Riktor's henchmen, and Miles kills Riktor on a rooftop. In the aftermath, Miles discovers Nova is writing a comic book about their ordeal, and he decides to destroy the Skizm organization.
- First release year
- 2019
- Runtime (minutes)
- 97
- Production countries
- New Zealand; United Kingdom; Germany; United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- Jason Lei Howden
- Writers
- Jason Lei Howden · writer
- Cast and characters
- Daniel Radcliffe · Miles Lee Harris; Samara Weaving · Nix; Natasha Liu Bordizzo · Nova Alexander; Ned Dennehy · Riktor; Grant Bowler · Dane; Edwin Wright · Effie; Rhys Darby · Fuckface
- Genres
- action; comedy
- Themes
- violence as entertainment; revenge; organized crime
- Tone and mood
- frenetic; violent; ridiculous
- Setting
- An alternative near future.
- Premise and plot tags
- death game; gangster; action comedy
- Content notes
- violence
- Reception
- The film received mixed or average reviews, described as frenetic and slick but with pacing issues.
- Production trivia
- The film was released digitally on-demand less than three weeks after its theatrical release due to the COVID-19 pandemic.; Director Jason Lei Howden faced criticism for tweets regarding online film critics prior to release.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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