Six people arrive at a building to participate in an escape room. How are they all connected and how many will get out? Those are the central questions posed in Escape Room, released on January 4. Marketed as a horror film, it is more of a thriller. I was more stressed out than scared watching the participants try to figure out the puzzles before being baked/frozen/smashed/poisoned.
While I enjoyed this movie tremendously, there are two things that I did not like: the beginning and the ending. When the movie starts, a single participant is in what we are lead to believe is the final room. The rest of the movie takes place in the form of a flashback. We know that this particular person is going to make it to this particular room, so some of the suspense is alleviated. It would have been much more stressful not to know which, if any, of the participants would make it to the next room. I found the ending to be unbelievable but it sets up the premise of a sequel. Time, and the box office, will tell if that movie will ever be made.
One last note: the puzzles in the movie required not only smarts but physical strength and athleticism. If the real-life escape rooms are anything like that, I will stick to building bears.