Deaths Roulette (2023)
30/05
Psychological Horror is an interesting sub-genre within film as it allows both the creator and audience to explore internal struggles rather than external ordeals.
Deaths Roulette offers an intriguing premise on how a group of seemingly unconnected individuals can work together to escape a death game.
The story begins with a group of seven awakening in a mansion and finding themselves isolated from the rest of the world.
They try to converse with one another to uncover who they each are and how they wound up in this predicament.
Before any answers are revealed the antagonist makes himself and his intentions known.
The antagonist forces the unwilling participants into a social experiment game where the group must unanimously decide whom to kill so that the others may escape.
This type of psychological horror has been seen in other films, such as Circle (2015) and the popular Saw franchise.
What sets this apart from its predecessors is the location and set design.
The mansion is located on top of an eroded cliff overlooking the ocean. The establishing shot of the cliffside puts into perspective the inescapable danger the victims are in.
The game master gives the participants hints as he opens up various rooms of the mansion for the players to explore. The games room offers a wheel of fortune-esque puzzle board, with the questions focused on each characters darkest secrets.
The next room, which is revealed to be a gallery, has no specific objects to decipher but rather many different paintings, all of which are used to delve into the character's psyche and highlights the director's artistic vision.
Whilst the set design is impressive and gives the film its identity, it ultimately fails to progress the story.
The game room puzzle was only solved by Lieutenant Simon Acosta Cruz (Manolo Cardona), which is a cheap "win" for the victims, as we later realise in the film's final act.
The gallery's paintings are vivid and hold various meanings to the characters' backstories, particularly the infamous Pablo Vega.
Unfortunately, the audience does not get enough time to appreciate the artistic direction of these paintings. It is instead met with expositional dialogue dumps, further forcing the story rather than letting it develop naturally.
Finally, the film introduces not one but two twist endings. The former is acceptable, albeit unnecessary, and the latter being outrageous in terms of plot structure, as the reveal can only be explained in the film's final minutes.
Manolo Cardona clearly has an artistic vision. He also had veteran Maribel Verdú's performance heightening the story's drama.
The psychological horror aspect was defined by its director but needed more time to be developed. Considering the Game room had a maze on the wall (a clear hint towards the third act), but never expanded upon, it shows that the director's vision was set on his twist endings rather than the characters and their place in the death game.
Nevertheless, Deaths Roulette has some worthwhile story beats and some truly detestable characters.
