After starring in his first big film, B-movie actor Cory King (Adam Joseph Turner) moves into a hotel for semi-successful actors, directors and producers. But the longer he stays there, the more he notices things around him have never been what they seemed.
Forget the unreliable narrator. Here it's more a case of unreliable everything. With What Lives in Room 214?, writer/director Brandon Rice clearly isn't interested in merely keeping you guessing. In fact, he blasts right past guessing as he shoots for full-on 'mind fuck'. Apologies for the language, but that really is the only way to convey what Rice is going for with this intense psychological horror. It is the type of movie that will play on your mind for days, as you endeavour to wrap your head around all that occurs in this plain-looking, yet somehow creepy hotel.
All throughout the movie is loaded with suggestive imagery. Some of which might prove triggering - including some incredible makeup effects towards the end. But it's all open to interpretation. Is it purgatory? Is it hell? Or is it simply one man's descent into drug and alcohol abuse, and/or insanity? That is very much up to the viewer to decide. A fact that only makes this cautionary tale about fame all the more impactful. That said, you don't have to achieve fame to encounter some of the perils Cory King faces during his stay in room 214. Meaning the cautionary aspect of the tale - to me, anyway - is far broader and more resonant than maybe even Rice intended.
Adam Joseph Turner is excellent as the tortured Cory. His portrayal of a man lost, as well as one ever more dependant on substances, inspires curiosity and sympathy in equal measure. Why can't he leave? What is keeping him there? And is he the only one? A wide range of supporting characters - and equally colourful performances - would suggest not. They certainly add some weirdness to the mystery. While some strangely intimate camera work and a little clever lighting help to emphasise Cory's almost claustrophobic hotel room existence. Giving the place in which he appears to be trapped both a haunting and somehow innocuous vibe.
The trouble is, as the movie progresses the horror qualities and the mystery behind them seem to take over. Meaning the fame aspect is somewhat lost to a sense of something otherworldly. By the end, What Lives in Room 214? no longer feels like a cautionary tale about fame. Instead, it appears to be the story of a haunted hotel. Has fame led Cory down a dark path? Or is this hotel trapping its guests, and slowly driving them insane by deluding them into thinking they can leave anytime they want? The lack of answers certainly suggests the latter. And yet, even though it's hurtful to the message Rice is attempting to convey, that same lack of answers enables What Lives in Room 214? to be so inescapable. Drawing you into Cory's nightmare stay in this oddly haunting hotel, and leaving you to wonder what is actually going on, long after the movie ends.
What Lives in Room 214? is a haunting tale of a lost soul. The cautionary part about fame may get a little lost somewhere along the way, but the uncertainty behind what is actually happening in room 214 only makes this psychological horror more spellbinding.
8/10
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