Countdown: Review by @Kush_Hayes
The idea of a haunted phone app is as ridiculous as the idea of a haunted phone. However that doesnt mean that there isnt something there in Justin Decs feature length written/directed film Countdown. The premise honestly feels like it was developed in 2009 when phone apps started becoming a thing, right down to the iPhones freshman marketing campaign with “...theres an App for that.” But once youre in the premise things move at a pleasant pace. Nothing lingers. We dont hang on things or revist locations that could get tired quickly. And thankfully we have a cast that has good chemistry together all united to showcase the question “What if the Devil had a phone app?”
Our movie starts on a random house party with teenagers misbehaving as they do, mixing the alcohol with their pop music. And what starts out as a recommendation for a weight loss app, accidentally kicks off a chain of events when the wrong “Countdown” app is downloaded. Most of the gang at the table is going to live into their 70s and beyond. Most except for Courtney whos app says she has only hours left in her lift. Everyone laughs it off. Courtneys boyfriend does a horrible job to convince her its a goof. And its only when Courtney refuses to be driven home by her (now) drunk boyfriend that she receives a notification stating that she has now broken the “Terms of Service Agreement”. Justin Dec does a great job of ratcheting up the drama on Courtneys walk home, but once we get within that final ten seconds, youre expecting something creative along the lines of Final Destination and ultimately disappointed by having an invisible force just pick her up and slam her down on the floor. What I did find clever is that upon the clock striking zero, Courtneys drunk boyfriend has crashed his car creating a horrible wreck that would have killer Courtney for sure.
From there we meet our main character Nurse Quinn, played by Elizabeth Lail, who is treating the late-Courtneys boyfriend, and he has now downloaded the app and shows Quinn that he has less than a day left himself. Quinn brings this up to her coworkers and immediately they all download it and same result, most people are living into their 80s. ...except for Quinn who has roughly 3 days left.
As these things go, Quinn gets haunted by disturbing visuals and the sounds of spooky chains, on top of that when shes in a vulnerable spot, one of the Doctors tries to force himself on her in the room of a comatose patient of all places. Quinn defends herself and rejects his advances and then more creepy things of the paranormal variety occur. This causes Quinn to make a desperate trip to the Smartphone shop owned and operated by comedian Tom Segura who definitely brings the comic relief. We also meet Matt, played by Jordan Calloway, who has also downloaded the app and is on an even tighter budget of time.
Matt and Quinn put their heads together to figure out what the app is, what the Terms of Service are, and try to do what they can to reverse the process. As this goes on, Quinn gets blamed for Sexual Harassment in a Human Resources meeting that would not have happened that quickly, Tom Segura gets recruited to hack the app, because of that, Quinns sister gets involved and after all that, a literal Hail Mary play is performed by bringing in a priest who provides a lot of great theoretical exposition. From there we get into the third act with an ultimate showdown that involves the guilty doctor and the devil and revolves around saving Quinns sister.
I thought the chemistry between Lail and Calloway was very natural and thought the writing possibly held back their relationship. I found Decs writing gave both characters very simple but compelling backgrounds that made you interested in whether or not they succeed. I was disappointed in the execution of our movies kills, but thats only because I found the tension in the scenes to be built up incredibly well. I would be very interested in seeing Justin Dec take on a Suspense Drama in his next film, and while I found the horror of Countdown to be fun, over all its only ok.
Three out of Six Blueberries.
Rated PG-13 for terror, violence, bloody images, suggestive material, language and thematic elements
Rated PG-13 for terror, violence, bloody images, suggestive material, language and thematic elements
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