Play stupid games, win stupid prizes. So they say. Directors Nicolas Wendl and Dani Abraham add a corollary: if the stupid game leads to ritual murder, that’s definitely on you.
Their horror film Stupid Games makes up for budget limitations with sharp characterization and an improvisational spirit. Largely playing out in a small apartment, it’s tense enough to make you forget the outside world.
The set-up is simple. Jaxon (Saad Rolando) and Rex (Gage Robinson) have a triple date set up, but their third has bailed. Desperate to get someone to join the evening of dinner and board games, they settle on their building’s maintenance man, Stanley (Grant Terzakis). The trio has to match the hosts, Celeste (Alyssa Tortomassi), Riley (Cass Huckabay), and couch-surfing friend Mia (Ashwini Ganpule).
Of course, the evening isn’t going as planned. Jaxon carries a huge torch for Celeste. She may be playing games with his affections. Not that we should believe that he or Rex are particularly deserving of being treated well. Stanley and Mia seem to awkwardly hit it off over dinner – claimed to be home-made but early on shown as delivery. And then the lights go out.
The big question remains: Who’s playing who and what really is the game?
To the credit of Wendl and Abraham along with screenwriter Tanner Adams, it takes a while to determine just what kind of horror lies in wait. Maybe it’s a slasher film and the game is figuring out the killer. When they get down to the centerpiece board game, it gets smartly murkier. A combination of Ouija, Tarot, Quelf, and a fantasy tabletop game with cool miniatures, the game itself seems to have a grand plan that it’s making up as it goes along.
For Stupid Games to work, the filmmakers had to take it seriously without losing a sense of fun. Wendl and Abraham give each character time to develop – except maybe Riley – so their terror plays out effectively. Each actor brings complexity to their characters in a short amount of time. Stupid Games also uses the single setting to claustrophobic effect. Long before the horror begins, everyone’s discomfort and awkwardness is palpable.
And then the fun begins.
Stupid Games has been available for several months, currently viewable on Tubi, The CW of all places, and Prime. But we all know it’s easy for small gems to get lost in the onslaught of movies and series on seemingly infinite streaming services.
Full disclosure that Wendl reached out to me directly asking me to give this movie a shot. I watch many, many horror films of various quality, and I try to spotlight those that honestly surprise me with how solid they are, especially in light of a low budget. With a $10k budget and 7 days of shooting, Stupid Games doesn’t waste a bit. A clever concept with believable actors, it’s worth a roll of the dice.
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