Until Dawn

Story: Five friends take a road trip to find a missing person. This quest drags them to an isolated house stuck in a time loop. Can they survive the night or relive their ordeal endlessly?

Review: A year after her sister Melanie goes missing under mysterious circumstances, Clover (Ella Rubin) and her friends decide to trace her journey. This leads them to an abandoned house in Glore valley, where an hourglass sand timer decides their fate. As the clock starts ticking, each one is haunted and slaughtered by a masked killer. However, as time passes, they are resurrected and made to relive the evening that seals their death. They are horrified to discover that they will be killed over and over again until they find a way to survive the night and escape this death loop.

Can death be scary if you get multiple chances to reverse it? You fear it because it cannot be undone. David F. Sandberg’s survival horror doesn’t quite work because it makes death look like an instagram DM which you can send, unsend and edit. There are more deaths than jump scares here. People get killed and keep coming back to life in the same order and this loop goes on forever. Nothing truly terrifies you. Is it frustrating? yes. Of course, there are people who explode like bombs for you to see their broken limbs flying around but that too doesn’t give you the cold sweat.

The video game adaptation feels campy and never offers the ‘alarming fear’ you seek from thrillers. Does it give you anxiety? Yes, the kind one might get if you accidentally travel ticketless and find the TC making his way to you before you can slyly get off at the next station. If this sort of stress gives you an adrenaline rush, Until Dawn may find an audience in you.

Even as the story isn’t scary or impactful, the film is technically competent. It’s shot well and the abandoned house makes for an ideal setting. It’s fast paced as well and there’s no room for any sort of distractions. There’s an underlying message on trauma and how that makes you more vulnerable, sadly that aspect isn’t explored much. The focus is more on the gory histrionics, and they get tiring beyond a point.

Unless you are fascinated by the time loop as a theme, you can afford to escape this one.