"Truth or Dare" (PG-13, 1:40) is a horror thriller, based on the adolescent party game, which has existed in some form for centuries and traces its roots to the ancient Greeks. Of course, this being a Blumhouse production, it gives the old game of "Questions and Commands" a scary supernatural twist. This obvious new horror franchise (calling it so seems to be a pretty safe bet) is directed by Jeff Wadlow ("Kick Ass 2", "Never Back Down") and is written by Jillian Jacobs (not Gillian Jacobs from TV's "Community"), Michael Reisz, Christopher Roach (all of whom are brand new or fairly new at writing feature films) and Wadlow. The cast is made up of little-known actors, who've done most of their acting to date on TV and online.
Olivia (Lucy Hale) is a pretty and friendly (and dull and responsible) college senior who focuses on doing good deeds like organizing Habitat for Humanity builds, but always seems to make time for her friends, especially her best friend, Markie (Violett Bean), whose father died by suicide years earlier. It's not easy, but Markie convinces Olivia to put her good-deed-doing on hold to join her and her boyfriend, Lucas (Tyler Posey), and some other friends, in going to Mexico for their last spring break together.
They all have a grand old time south of the border and, on their last night of vacation, they don't want the good times to end. When the bars close, they follow a guy called Carter (Landon Liboiron), who has spent much of the evening talking to Olivia, to an abandoned (and trashed) old church on a hill. There, Carter suggests a game of Truth or Dare, which goes pretty much as the game usually goes (some uncomfortable truths, some awkward kissing and groping and a naked butt or two)... until Carter has a turn, chooses "truth", tells the group he lured them there and tricked them into playing... then leaves.
When Olivia and company come back to their lives and back to reality, it seems that the game has followed them home (as Carter said it would, before he apologized and disappeared). They all learn that the rules of Truth or Dare 2.0 (Evil Edition) are that if you fail to choose an option (truth or dare) when asked (by people or writing only you can see), you die. If you fail to answer a question totally truthfully or perform a required task completely, you die. If you insist on always choosing "truth" to avoid some dangerous assignment, you... well, you get the point. As Olivia's friends start dropping dead for various violations of the rules, the only hope of the survivors is to find out how to break this curse they're under.
"Truth or Dare" does a pretty good job with its thin premise. It puts an interesting story behind an evil incarnation of what is basically a silly kids' game and serves up a combination of "It Follows" and "Final Destination". Not bad. "B"
Olivia (Lucy Hale) is a pretty and friendly (and dull and responsible) college senior who focuses on doing good deeds like organizing Habitat for Humanity builds, but always seems to make time for her friends, especially her best friend, Markie (Violett Bean), whose father died by suicide years earlier. It's not easy, but Markie convinces Olivia to put her good-deed-doing on hold to join her and her boyfriend, Lucas (Tyler Posey), and some other friends, in going to Mexico for their last spring break together.
They all have a grand old time south of the border and, on their last night of vacation, they don't want the good times to end. When the bars close, they follow a guy called Carter (Landon Liboiron), who has spent much of the evening talking to Olivia, to an abandoned (and trashed) old church on a hill. There, Carter suggests a game of Truth or Dare, which goes pretty much as the game usually goes (some uncomfortable truths, some awkward kissing and groping and a naked butt or two)... until Carter has a turn, chooses "truth", tells the group he lured them there and tricked them into playing... then leaves.
When Olivia and company come back to their lives and back to reality, it seems that the game has followed them home (as Carter said it would, before he apologized and disappeared). They all learn that the rules of Truth or Dare 2.0 (Evil Edition) are that if you fail to choose an option (truth or dare) when asked (by people or writing only you can see), you die. If you fail to answer a question totally truthfully or perform a required task completely, you die. If you insist on always choosing "truth" to avoid some dangerous assignment, you... well, you get the point. As Olivia's friends start dropping dead for various violations of the rules, the only hope of the survivors is to find out how to break this curse they're under.
"Truth or Dare" does a pretty good job with its thin premise. It puts an interesting story behind an evil incarnation of what is basically a silly kids' game and serves up a combination of "It Follows" and "Final Destination". Not bad. "B"