Truth or Dare (2018 film)

Blumhouse's Truth or Dare[3] is a 2018 American supernatural horror film directed by Jeff Wadlow and written by Michael Reisz, Jillian Jacobs, Chris Roach, and Wadlow. The film 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]

Truth or Dare
Theatrical release poster
Directed byJeff Wadlow
Produced byJason Blum
Screenplay by
Story byMichael Reisz
Starring
Music byMatthew Margeson
CinematographyJacques Jouffret
Edited bySean Albertson
Production
company
Distributed byUniversal Pictures
Release date
  • April 13, 2018 (2018-04-13) (United States)
Running time
100 minutes
CountryUnited States
LanguageEnglish
Budget$3.5 million[1]
Box office$95.3 million[2]

Released in theaters on Friday, April 13, 2018, the film received mostly 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 $95 million worldwide against its $3.5 million production budget.

Plot

Olivia Barron, a college senior, is planning to spend spring break working for Habitat for Humanity. Her best friend Markie Cameron, whose father had committed suicide earlier in the year, prevails upon Olivia to spend their last spring break partying together. Along with Markie's boyfriend Lucas and their friends Penelope, Tyson, and Brad, they travel to Mexico. While there they run into Ronnie, an obnoxious fellow student. At a bar, Olivia meets a man named Carter who invites them all to go drinking at an abandoned church nearby. While there, Carter suggests that they play a game of truth or dare. During the game it is revealed that Olivia has a secret crush on Lucas, which angers Markie. Carter ends the game by admitting that he tricked them into playing a supernatural version of the game and warns them to do whatever the game asks or they will die.

Back at school, Olivia sees hallucinations calling on her to pick truth or dare. After being harassed by the aggressive hallucinations she picks "truth" and blurts out that Markie has been serially unfaithful to Lucas. The other friends disbelieve her explanation of a cursed game until they learn that Ronnie was forced to kill himself after failing to complete a dare. Lucas gets messages from the game until he picks "truth" and admits that he has always had feelings for Olivia. Markie gets a message from the game and is forced to break Olivia's hand. Brad is then forced to admit to his father that he is gay.

Tyson, a pre-med student, has the next turn and is ordered to tell the truth about forging drug prescriptions during an admissions interview. Disbelieving the reality of the game, Tyson denies the charge and is killed. A distraught Penelope, who has been drinking heavily, is then forced to walk along the eaves of a house and nearly falls to her death. The group discovers a story online about a woman named Giselle Hammond who lit a woman on fire in Mexico while apparently playing truth or dare. They arrange a meeting with Giselle through social media.

Giselle reveals that her group of friends were playing Two Truths and a Dare in the same church. One person in her group, Sam, got drunk and began trashing the place. When they got home, the game somehow continued and only she and Carter survived. Carter was dared to involve more players into the game to give themselves more time before it became their turn again. Giselle reveals that she has been dared to kill Olivia and tries to shoot her, but Penelope dives in front of Olivia and is killed instead. Having failed at her dare, Giselle is forced to kill herself.

It is then Olivia's turn, and she chooses dare and is dared to sleep with Lucas. While they have sex, Lucas is charged with Truth and admits that he is still in love with Markie and not Olivia. Meanwhile, Markie, all alone, also picks truth and admits that she too has been contemplating suicide.

Olivia and Lucas drive to Tijuana and meet Inez Reyes, a former nun at the church. Inez tells them of how she summoned an ancient demon named Calux who possessed the game of Truth or Dare to save herself from the sadistic priest. However, Calux kept the game going and killed all her friends. She trapped Calux with a ritual including cutting off her tongue and sealing it in a pot. The group realize Sam must have broken the pot and released Calux, and to trap him, they need to find Sam.

Brad is dared to threaten his father with a gun. As he does so, he is shot and killed by an approaching officer. At the precinct, Olivia learns that Carter and Sam are the same person. Olivia is then dared to speak the truth. Olivia tells Markie that the night her father killed himself he had sexually assaulted her and she had wished he was dead. Markie forgives her friend, noting that her father had been suicidal for a long time.

Olivia, Markie, and Lucas find Sam and force him at gunpoint back to the ruins of the church in Mexico. Lucas's turn comes as Sam goes through the ritual to trap Calux. Lucas is dared to kill either Olivia or Markie. When he refuses, Calux possesses him and forces him to kill himself, although first Calux has him kill Sam, so Sam can't complete the ritual. When Markie's turn comes, Olivia tells her to choose dare, then refuse to complete the dare. After that, Calux possesses Markie, at which point Olivia forces Calux into the game by asking him to pick truth or dare. The demon is forced to tell the truth that there is no way they can make it out of the game alive because Sam is dead. They'll die unless they add more people to the game to delay their next turn.

Olivia uploads a YouTube video, in which she briefly warns viewers about the game and its rules. She then asks "Truth or Dare", involving whoever hears the phrase into the game, delaying her and Markie's next turn, but effectively dooming anyone who watches it in the process.

Cast

Production

Development

On March 16, 2017, Universal Pictures and Blumhouse Productions announced the development of a new film, titled Truth or Dare, with Jeff Wadlow hired to direct it, based on an original story created by Michael Reisz.

Initially, director Jeff Wadlow explained that he was hired to direct the film after spitballing an opening scene based on the film's title 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]

Filming

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 and premiered on April 13, 2018. [12] The official trailer for the film was released on January 3, 2018.[13]

Reception

Box office

Truth or Dare grossed $41.4 million in the United States and Canada, and $53.9 million in other territories, for a worldwide total of $95.3 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 ($35.7 million) and fellow horror film A Quiet Place ($32.6 million).[15] It fell to 58% in its second weekend, 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 in seventh place.[17]

Critical response

On review aggregator website Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of 16% based on 152 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 two stars out of four 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]

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."[21]

Accolades
Year Award Category Recipient(s) Result Ref.
2018 Teen Choice Awards Choice Drama Movie
Truth or Dare
 Nominated [22]
Choice Drama Movie Actress
Lucy Hale
 Nominated [22]

Sequel

In April 2018, Jeff Wadlow discussed ideas of a sequel, stating, "If the movie is a success and I'm asked to come up with other good ideas, there are other stories that could be told through the filter of a supernatural game of truth or dare."[23]

In February 2020, Blumhouse Productions announced that the sequel of Truth or Dare is in development.[24]

References
  1. Fuster, Jeremy (April 10, 2018). "'Rampage' Stomps Into Theaters in Need of Big Overseas Launch". TheWrap. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  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. 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 March 2, 2020.
  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. Gleiberman, Owen (April 11, 2018). "Review: 'Truth or Dare'". Variety. Penske Business Media. Retrieved April 11, 2018.
  22. Cohen, Jess (June 13, 2018). "Teen Choice Awards 2018: Avengers: Infinity War, Black Panther and Riverdale Among Top Nominees". E! News. E!. Retrieved June 13, 2018.
  23. Sprague, Mike (April 16, 2018). "Will there be a sequel to Blumhouse's Truth or Dare?". JoBlo.com. Retrieved April 16, 2018.
  24. "Truth or Challenge sequel as reported in the works in Blumhouse". newsdio. Retrieved 25 February 2020.
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