Would You Rather (2012)
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A desperate woman must navigate a series of life-threatening games at a wealthy philanthropist's dinner party to save her dying brother.
The story
Iris is struggling to fund her brother Raleigh's leukemia treatment until she is approached by a wealthy philanthropist, Shepard Lambrick. Shepard offers her a deal: if she can win a mysterious game at his dinner party, he will pay for Raleigh's medical expenses and use his connections to find a bone marrow donor. Iris joins a group of other contestants, including Shepard's son Julian and several others with various backgrounds. During the dinner, Shepard tests their principles with compromising choices before revealing the true nature of the game—a lethal version of 'would you rather' where the last person standing wins the prize.
Full plot (contains spoilers)
Iris seeks funding for her brother Raleigh's leukemia treatment and enters a game hosted by philanthropist Shepard Lambrick. At a dinner party with other contestants like Julian, Lucas, Travis, Linda, Peter, Amy, Conway, and Cal, Shepard tests their morals with money. The game then turns deadly; Conway is shot by Shepard's butler, Bevans. In the first round involving an electric shock machine, no one is eliminated. The second round forces players to stab or whip one another; Peter stabs Linda (who dies), Amy stabs Iris (who survives via Lucas), and Cal whips Travis until he is mortally injured. During a chaotic escape, Cal is shot, and Julian attempts to rape Iris but is wounded by her. Dr. Barden is killed by Bevans. In the third round, Peter dies from a heart attack caused by a firecracker, Lucas slits his own eyeball, and Amy drowns in a barrel. In the final round, only Iris and Lucas remain. Iris is forced to choose between killing Lucas or receiving no reward; she shoots him to win. Shepard gives her the money and reveals a donor was already found in Romania. However, Iris returns home to find Raleigh has committed suicide by overdose, leaving her victory meaningless.
- First release year
- 2012
- Runtime (minutes)
- 93
- Production countries
- United States
- Original languages
- English
- Directors
- David Guy Levy
- Writers
- Steffen Schlachtenhaufen · writer
- Cast and characters
- Brittany Snow · Iris; Jeffrey Combs · Shepard Lambrick; Enver Gjokaj · Julian; Charlie Hofheimer · Lucas; Sasha Grey · Amy; John Heard · Travis; Jonny Coyne · Cal; June Squibb · Linda
- Genres
- psychological horror; thriller
- Themes
- sacrifice; morality; desperation; survival
- Tone and mood
- tense; violent; dark
- Premise and plot tags
- death game; torture; psychological thriller
- Source material / true-story basis
- the party game "would you rather"
- Reception
- The film received generally unfavorable reviews, with critics noting that while it is restrained by most torture porn standards, its premise is harmed by its tendency toward blood and guts.
- Production trivia
- Crispin Glover was originally cast as Shepard Lambrick but exited the role a few weeks before filming began.; The film was filmed on location in Pasadena, Woodland Hills, and Los Angeles, California.
Film metadata comes from the open sources listed in Credits & Contact. Catalogue details may be incomplete.
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