This slasher film is centred on the students of a high school in rural Nebraska. It opens with a member of the football team waking up to realise there is somebody in his house. He finds photographs documenting his homophobic assault on another player which lead him to a closet. Here he is attacked and killed by a masked assailant... the mask looking like his own face. Inevitably the next day the other students at the school are speculating who might have been behind the attack. Of course he isn't the last to die; soon after somebody who likes to show off their right on tolerance at school is exposed as a racist before being killed. Our protagonists are outsiders to some degree; Makani Young, a girl who changed her name and moved to Nebraska following an incident elsewhere; Darby, a transgender kid; and Zach Sandford, the son of an unpopular local business man to name just three. With it looking like the killer is targeting people with secrets everybody suddenly becomes keen to confess anything they might have done; whether or not it will save them is unknown.
This is a decent enough edition to the high school slasher genre. I can't see it becoming a classic but it passed ninety minutes well enough. The basic plot was nothing new but it had some fun twists; I particularly liked the killer wearing a mask of their victim. At times I wasn't sure if the film was trying to push a moral agenda or mocking those who act right-on but will not tolerate any disagreement... perhaps it was just trying to tap into the debate without picking a side to avoid offending anybody. The identity of the killer isn't a huge surprise despite early attempts to set up other suspects. There are less killings than I expected although those that there are are quite bloody. The cast is solid enough. I'm not sure about the title given that much of the deadly action takes place outside the victims' houses; I can only assume this wasn't the case in the book. Overall I'd say this is worth checking out if you are a fan of the genre; you won't waste too much time even if you don't like it.
This is a decent enough edition to the high school slasher genre. I can't see it becoming a classic but it passed ninety minutes well enough. The basic plot was nothing new but it had some fun twists; I particularly liked the killer wearing a mask of their victim. At times I wasn't sure if the film was trying to push a moral agenda or mocking those who act right-on but will not tolerate any disagreement... perhaps it was just trying to tap into the debate without picking a side to avoid offending anybody. The identity of the killer isn't a huge surprise despite early attempts to set up other suspects. There are less killings than I expected although those that there are are quite bloody. The cast is solid enough. I'm not sure about the title given that much of the deadly action takes place outside the victims' houses; I can only assume this wasn't the case in the book. Overall I'd say this is worth checking out if you are a fan of the genre; you won't waste too much time even if you don't like it.