This silly movie about a possessed version of the titular party game—here, participants die if they refuse to play or follow the rules—focuses on a group of California friends who go to Mexico for spring break. Squeaky-clean Olivia (Lucy Hale), who has been enticed into ditching her plans to work for Habitat for Humanity by her flighty roommate Markie (Violett Beane), is joined by Markie’s handsome boyfriend Lucas (Tyler Posey), and a second couple—cynical premed Tyson (Nolan Gerard Funk) and his girlfriend Penelope (Sophia Ali)—as well as Brad (Hayden Szeto), a gay kid keeping his sexuality a secret from his macho cop dad. On their last night south of the border, they encounter thoroughly obnoxious classmate Ronnie (Sam Lerner) and a stranger named Carter (Landon Liboiron), who takes the group to an abandoned mission church for a late-night bash and initiates a game of Truth or Dare. And then Ronnie bolts, announcing that he has saved himself by foisting the cursed game on his fellow students, who must play indefinitely for the controlling demon’s pleasure—until they either die or pass it on to others. The film then follows everyone back to the States, where those who a) refuse to play, b) lie instead of telling the truth, or c) fail to complete a dare, all die gruesomely. Naturally, the survivors will eventually return to Mexico to try to end the curse, leading to the most frightening development of all: a threatened sequel. Both boring and dumb, this is not recommended. [Note: DVD/Blu-ray extras include both the theatrical and unrated director’s cut versions of the film, audio commentary by director Jeff Wadlow and star Lucy Hale, a “Game On” making-of featurette (7 min.), and a production segment on “Directing the Deaths” (4 min.). Exclusive to the Blu-ray release are bonus DVD and digital copies of the film. Bottom line: a solid extras package for a lame horror flick.] (F. Swietek)
Truth or Dare
Universal, 100 min., PG-13, DVD: $29.98, Blu-ray/DVD Combo: $34.98, July 17 Volume 33, Issue 5
Truth or Dare
Star Ratings
As of March 2022, Video Librarian has changed from a four-star rating system to a five-star one. This change allows our reviewers to have a wider range of critical viewpoints, as well as to synchronize with Google’s rating structure. This change affects all reviews from March 2022 onwards. All reviews from before this period will still retain their original rating. Future film submissions will be considered our new 1-5 star criteria.
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