watched on a whim because amazon prime recommended it to me, and i was pleasantly surprised. i usually go into thrillers with no expectations so i can enjoy them no matter the overall quality, and that probably benefited this one. the acting is solid, and the dynamic between the two leads is believable. it takes a plot that's been done before and gives very little backstory to either the protagonist or the antagonist aside from a dream sequence of the player's daughter and the implication that the game master does, in fact, have a son too.

a lot of movies would fail with this setup because of very little investment in either character and a sensation of having seen this sort of thing play out again, but the fact is the movie plainly tells you in the plot summary that the game master has ulterior motives to the whole "play this game and win cash from nameless faceless wealthy people" trope. you know going in the only detail that's ever been a twist in the other movies of this particular storyline which makes it more enjoyable.

i also liked that the player wises up quickly; a big pet peeve of mine in similar movies and escape room tropes is the persistent ignorance on the part of the participants that there's no possible way they've signed up for something falsely advertised. this woman was suspicious from the start and that was not only relatable but also made her easier to root for even with very little backstory to round her out as a character. this felt a little less like a full blown movie and more like an episode of a solid horror anthology, which there have been a few of lately. not necessarily a movie that gets a rewatch but definitely worth the first viewing.