A group of strangers find themselves the unwitting contestants in a brand new online game show. In each round they must answer a series of trivia questions, facing extreme penalties at the hands of the show's deranged host for every wrong answer. But why have they been picked to play? What did they do to deserve a place on the internet's deadliest game show?
A gore fest and a game show. Trivial has all the hallmarks of both. It's reminiscent of the SAW movies in that way. I imagine if ol' Jigsaw had been a fan of Who Wants to be a Millionaire?, his many escapades would probably look a lot like this. As with any good game show or horror movie, this blood-soaked indie features a delightfully diverse cast of contestants, and it's hard to tell which ones will crumble under the pressure, and if any will survive to the very end. While some very good makeup effects make the situation feel all the more terrifying and real, the clips of classic game shows dispersed throughout the movie add something darkly comedic to their fate. There's some challenging questions in there too.
It can be difficult to know who to root for in this sordid scenario, with our glorious host, Laurel (Sasha Graham) proving as unsavoury as her contestants/victims. One of whom is played by writer/director James L. Edwards - he may be a self-described "piece of human garbage", but it's fun watching 'Dean' be the fly in Laurel's ointment. Graham does a brilliant job of leading this bizarre movie, as well as the terrifying show within it. She not only pulls off that snazzy TV persona, but is also very convincing as the slowly unravelling woman behind the persona. I particularly enjoyed those moments in which Laurel struggles to hide her frustrations when a contestant gets an answer right.
The movie does lose the suspense a little to wards the end, as certain characters start to do typical horror movie dumb shit, which can make the movie feel a little on the long side. Although it is in keeping with your average game show, many of which drag things out in order to create suspense - or at least what they're creators perceive to be suspense. And yet it is a pretty accurate commentary on our society. Talk about going viral! If Trivial were a real thing, the internet would lap it up, in much the same way people do in the movie, or how the mob delighted in the brutal games held in the Roman Colosseum. Which is what makes Edwards' tale of a game show host dishing out her idea of justice, rather clever. It speaks to society's ills - our depravities made all the more accessible in the age of technology - by giving us exactly what we want.
A game show wrapped up in a horror movie. With some great performances, impressive makeup effects and classic game show clips, Trivial is a blood-soaked and darkly comedic nightmare. One that has a little something to say about our society and the internet.
7.5/10
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