Nato – Would You Rather
While Would You Rather may sound like the harmless game small children/drunken bar patrons might play, David Guy Levy’s film takes the innocence of the game and turns it into a Saw-like tournament of torture. Hosted by a wealthy “entrepreneur” named Shepard Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs), the sick bastard offers “contestants” a chance at unlimited wealth and a better life if they can win his game. The other “contestants?” Well once they are deemed “out” of the game, they are never heard from again, as Lambrick believes in rewarding the person who wants it most.
Getting past all that humanitarian bullshit Lambrick preaches about setting people free, we see a man who essentially gets off on power and control, toying with people’s lives for his own amusement. Each “contestant” thinks they’re attending a dinner party and just have to participate in silly little time wasters, but Shepard then decides each one’s fate to a degree, willingly choosing to let all but one person die.
Like I said, it’s basically a Saw knock-off, but it’s one of the best I’ve seen. The tortures aren’t outlandish and intricate, but more effective and efficient. It’s not about how they die, but about the tortures they endure. Simplicity is a thing of beauty in Would You Rather, and we really get to dive into thematic elements because of it.