Truth or Dare (2018 film)

Truth or Dare
Theatrical release poster
Directed by Jeff Wadlow
Produced by Jason Blum
Screenplay by
Story by Michael Reisz
Starring
Music by Matthew Margeson
Cinematography Jacques Jouffret
Edited by Sean Albertson
Production
company
Distributed by Universal Pictures
Release date
  • April 13, 2018 (2018-04-13)
Running time
 100 minutes
Country United States
Language English
Budget $3.5 million[1]
Box office $94.8 million[2]

Blumhouse's Truth or Dare[3] or simply Truth or Dare, is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Jeff Wadlow and written by Michael Reisz, Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach and Wadlow. It stars Lucy Hale, Tyler Posey, Violett Beane, Hayden Szeto, and Landon Liboiron, and follows a group of college students who play a game of truth or dare? while on vacation in Mexico, only to realize it has deadly consequences if they don't follow through on their tasks. Jason Blum produced through his Blumhouse Productions banner, and Universal Pictures distributed the film.[4]

Released in theaters on April 13, 2018, the film received negative reviews from critics, who said it was "neither inventive nor scary enough to set itself apart from the decades of dreary slashers that came before it".[5] Despite this, the film was a box office success while grossing $94 million worldwide against its $3.5 million production budget.

Plot

Olivia Barron, her best friend Markie Cameron, Markie’s boyfriend Lucas Moreno, along with Penelope Amari and her boyfriend Tyson Curran, and Brad Chang go on a trip to Rosarito, Mexico. In Mexico, Olivia runs into fellow student Ronnie who proceeds to harass her until a man intervenes on her behalf. The man introduces himself as Carter and eventually convinces her and her friends to join him for drinks at the ruins of a mission. There, Carter initiates a game of Truth or Dare with Olivia and her friends, plus Ronnie, who followed the group. Eventually, the game ends when Carter reveals that he deceived Olivia as a means of tricking her and her friends to the mission to offer them in his place in the supernatural game of Truth or Dare. As Carter leaves, he explains to Olivia that the game will follow them and they must not refuse it.

At a local college bar, sometime after everyone returned from Mexico, Ronnie dies when he fails to complete a dare. Olivia, having become convinced that Carter was telling the truth, gathers her friends and attempts to convince them that the game is real. The game, playing in accordance to the order the group played in Mexico, turns to Markie, having already appeared to Olivia and Lucas, and she is forced to break Olivia's hand. At the hospital, Brad is then forced by the game into revealing to his father, Officer Han Chang, his homosexuality.

The next day, the skeptical Tyson lies when forced to tell a truth and, as a result, dies. Later that night, it's Penelope's turn to play the game. She tries to pick truth but is forced by the game to do a dare. Penelope is dared to drink and finish a full bottle of vodka whilst walking along the edge of the roof of her house. She eventually falls from the roof after finishing the bottle, but is saved by Brad, Markie, and Olivia. The group manage to come into contact with a woman named Giselle, who is also a participant in a separate incarnation of the game, and the group go to meet her.

Giselle reveals that she and her friends played the game and her friend Sam, the only other survivor of her incarnation of the game, was responsible for the game becoming reality in the first place, having wrecked the ruins of the mission. Giselle reveals that a truth can only be chosen twice before the next player is forced to choose dare. Giselle draws a handgun on Olivia and shoots, confessing that she was dared to kill her. However, Penelope jumps in front of Olivia and is shot and killed. Failing to kill Olivia, Giselle shoots herself in the head.

Olivia and Lucas drive to Tijuana and meet with a mute woman and former nun who operated out of the church in which they originally played the game. The woman informs them that they are dealing with a demon she first summoned, who possessed the game of Truth or Dare and can only be stopped if the last person who evoked it sacrifices their tongue into an urn and seals it with wax after an incantation is made in the church.

Later, following Olivia, Lucas, and Markie’s turns in the game, Brad is dared to withdraw his father's gun and make him beg for his life. However, in the act, Brad is shot and killed by an approaching officer. At the precinct, Olivia learns that Carter is Sam Meehan.

Olivia, Markie, and Lucas find Sam and force him at gunpoint back to the ruins of the church in Mexico. There, Sam begins the ritual and is about to sever his tongue when it becomes Lucas' turn to play the game. Lucas is dared to kill either Olivia or Markie, which he refuses. Possessed by the demon controlling the game, Lucas is forced to kill Carter / Sam before the latter can complete the ritual to end the game. He then proceeds to slit his throat and die.

Olivia forces the demon to reveal to her whether or not there was a definitive way to end the game with Markie and herself alive. The demon reveals that now that Sam is dead, there is not - but they can draw more people into the game and prolong their turn in it. Olivia hastily records and uploads a video to YouTube, warning of the game and its rules, before challenging the viewer of the video to Truth or Dare, initiating them, effectively involving millions of new Truth or Dare players therefore postponing her and Markie's involvement in the game for a very long time & saving their lives for the time being.

Cast

Production

Initially, director Jeff Wadlow explained that he was hired to direct the film after spitballing an opening scene based on the title of the movie in his initial meetings with Blumhouse.[6] Subsequently, he joined with his friend Chris Roach, and his wife, Jill Jacobs, and started thinking of ideas to approach the final concept.[7]

Principal photography on the film began on June 7, 2017,[8][9] and wrapped on July 12, 2017, in Los Angeles.[10][11]

Release

The film was initially set for release on April 27, 2018, but in January 2018, the date was moved up two weeks, to April 13, 2018, Friday the 13th.[12] The official trailer for the film was released on January 3, 2018.[13]

Reception

Box office

Truth or Dare grossed $41.3 million in the United States and Canada, and $53.6 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $94.8 million, against a production budget of $3.5 million.[2]

In the United States and Canada, the film was released alongside Rampage and Sgt. Stubby: An American Hero, as well as the wide expansion of Isle of Dogs, and was projected to gross $12–15 million from 3,029 theaters in its opening weekend.[14] The film made $8.2 million on its first day (including $750,000 from Thursday night previews), $6.8 million on Saturday and a total of $18.7 million over the weekend, finishing third behind Rampage ($34.5 million) and fellow horror film A Quiet Place ($32.6 million).[15] It fell 58% in its second weekend (slightly above-average for Blumhouse horror films), grossing $7.8 million and finishing fifth.[16] The film continued to hold well in its third weekend, dropping 58% again to $3.3 million, finishing seventh.[17]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 14% based on 136 reviews, and an average rating of 3.6/10. The website's critical consensus reads, "Truth or Dare's slick presentation isn't enough to make this mediocre horror outing much more frightening than an average round of the real-life game."[18] On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 35 out of 100, based on 33 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews."[19] Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "B–" on an A+ to F scale.[15]

Simon Abrams of RogerEbert.com gave the film 2/4 stars and wrote that "director Jeff Wadlow and his three credited co-writers don't go far enough towards either of their film's primary impulses—humanizing their immature subjects and/or making them die amusingly sadistic deaths."[20] Exclaim!'s Alex Hudson called the film a "by-the-numbers horror that delivers clichés rather than surprises," though added "as dumb as this movie was, I kind of enjoyed it."[21]

Variety's Owen Gleiberman called it a "scare-free horror film" and wrote, "The movie isn’t scary, it isn’t gripping, it isn’t fun, and it isn’t fueled by any sort of clever compulsion. It’s just a strangely arduous exercise that feels increasingly frantic and arbitrary as it goes along."[22]

Awards and nominations

Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2018 20th Teen Choice Awards Choice Drama Movie
Truth or Dare
 Nominated [23]
Choice Drama Movie Actress
Lucy Hale
 Nominated

References

  1. ↑ Fuster, Jeremy (April 10, 2018). "'Rampage' Stomps Into Theaters in Need of Big Overseas Launch". TheWrap. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  2. 1 2 "Truth or Dare (2018)". Box Office Mojo. Retrieved July 1, 2018.
  3. ↑ ,Mendelson, Scott (January 3, 2018). "Blumhouse Claims Ownership Over Lucy Hale's 'Truth Or Dare'". Forbes. Retrieved April 19, 2018.
  4. ↑ Kroll, Justin (March 16, 2017). "'Pretty Little Liars' Star Lucy Hale Joins Blumhouse's 'Truth or Dare'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  5. ↑ Giles, Jeff (April 12, 2018). "Rampage Is Exactly What You Think It Is". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango Media. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  6. ↑ Schwerdtfeger, Conner (April 11, 2018). "The Bizarre Way Truth Or Dare's Director Pitched The Movie". CinemaBlend. GatewayBlend Entertainment. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  7. ↑ Deckelmeier, Joe (April 11, 2018). "Jeff Wadlow Interview: Truth or Dare". Screen Rant. Retrieved April 12, 2018.
  8. ↑ Miska, Brad (May 24, 2017). "Full Cast Prepares For a Game of 'Truth or Dare'". Bloody Disgusting. Retrieved May 25, 2017.
  9. ↑ Wadlow, Jeff (June 7, 2017). "First day of photography! Lucky shirt: check 🍀 @lucyhale @tylerposey58 @nolanfunk @haydenszeto @sophiatali". Instagram. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  10. ↑ Hale, Lucy [@lucyhale] (July 12, 2017). "THAT IS A MF WRAP ON TRUTH OR DARE 🎥 thanks for the memories guys ! Can't wait for y'all to see this" (Tweet). Retrieved April 12, 2018 – via Twitter.
  11. ↑ Highfill, Samantha (April 12, 2018). "Truth or Dare stars Tyler Posey, Lucy Hale share their spring break stories". Entertainment Weekly. Time. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  12. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (January 11, 2018). "Blumhouse's Truth Or Dare' Moves Up Two Weeks To Friday The 13th – Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved January 11, 2018.
  13. ↑ KimmiKillZombie (January 3, 2018). "[Trailer] Death Plays Games in TRUTH OR DARE". Nightmare on Film Street. Retrieved January 10, 2018.
  14. ↑ Faughnder, Ryan (April 11, 2018). "Rampage' is poised for top box-office spot as Dwayne Johnson fights video game movie curse". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  15. 1 2 D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 15, 2018). "The Rock Rebounds: 'Rampage' Shushes 'A Quiet Place' With $34M+ No. 1 Opening". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 15, 2018.
  16. ↑ Busch, Anita; D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 22, 2018). "'A Quiet Place' Still Noisy With $21.7M As 'Rampage' Beats Chest, 'Super Trooper 2' Surprises – Sunday AM Update". Deadline Hollywood. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 22, 2018.
  17. ↑ D'Alessandro, Anthony (April 29, 2018). "'Avengers: Infinity War' Conquering 'Force Awakens' With Record $248M-$250M Opening; Posts Record $82M Saturday". Deadline Hollywood. Retrieved April 29, 2018.
  18. ↑ "Blumhouse's Truth or Dare (2018)". Rotten Tomatoes. Fandango. Retrieved September 18, 2018.
  19. ↑ "Blumhouse's Truth or Dare Reviews". Metacritic. CBS Interactive. Retrieved June 19, 2018.
  20. ↑ Abrams, Simon (April 13, 2018). "Truth or Dare". RogerEbert.com. Ebert Digital LLC. Retrieved April 13, 2018.
  21. ↑ Hudson, Alex (April 11, 2018). "Review: 'Truth or Dare'". Exclaim!. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  22. ↑ Gleiberman, Owen (April 11, 2018). "Review: 'Truth or Dare'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  23. ↑ Johnson, Zach (August 12, 2018). "Teen Choice Awards 2018 Winners: The Complete List". E!. Retrieved September 5, 2018.
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