Imagine that The Game (1997) and Cabin in the Woods (2012) banged in a Waffle House bathroom while The Cube (2004) and The Maze Runner (2014) watched — their inbred mutant baby would be Escape Room.

According to Escaperoom.movie:

Escape Room is a psychological thriller about six strangers who find themselves in circumstances beyond their control and must use their wits to find the clues or die

Directed by: Adam Robitel (Insidious: The Last Key)

Screenplay(-ish) by: Bragi Schut and Maria Melnik (American Gods)

Story by: Bragi Schut (Season of the Witch – that explains a lot)

Produced by: Neal H. Moritz, Ori Marmur

Executive Producer: Rebecca Rivo

CAST

Taylor Russell

Logan Miller

Deborah Ann Woll

Jay Ellis

Tyler Labine

Nik Dodani

with Yorick van Wageningen

The Good

The sets are well-crafted and detailed

The score added to the suspense without being obnoxious

The Badass

Jay Ellis (Insecure) does a great job, and is the only character with even a hint of complication or backstory

Deborah Ann Woll (Daredevil, True Blood) has a brief role as a tortured war vet Read more about DAW in our Daredevil review

The plot moved quickly and jumped right into the action (I have the attention span of meth-addicted lemur, so this is always a big plus for me)

Escaperoom.movie has a Million Dollar Challenge where you can attempt to solve clue, win a trip to Los Angeles, and get a shot at a million dollars

The Ugly

Tyler Labine (Tucker and Dale vs. Evil) is awkward and seems out of place.

Dr. Wu Tang Clan.

The Game Master is goofy, and appears too late to have an impact.

The plot is beyond ludicrous.

Using the Illuminati as the BBEG is weak writing. When you use a cabal with limitless resources and reach, it allows you to easily explain away ridiculous plot holes.

The trope of the rich and powerful watching us kill ourselves via the internet is tired and overused.

This movie was an enjoyable excuse to eat popcorn, but you can wait to watch it on Netflix. It was silly and had little substance.

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