Cheap Thrills
In this obscene black comedy - described by Variety as a "nasty piece of work" - a down-on-his-luck father (Pat Healy, Compliance) accepts a series of increasingly insane challenges for cash in order to amuse a rich, twisted couple played by Anchorman's David Koechner and The Innkeepers' Sara Paxton. Winner of the Audience Award at SXSW Film Festival 2013.
Craig has a new baby, a ton of debt and, all of a sudden, no job. Drowning his sorrows in a dive bar one night, Craig meets Colin and Violet, a cashed-up couple who get Craig and his pal wasted and then begin offering them money in exchange for straight-forward tasks like playing darts, or insulting a drunk. The amounts of money on offer quickly escalate, as do the nature of the challenges themselves, becoming increasingly humiliating and eventually deeply disturbing.
Reviews & comments
Variety
pressA thoroughly nasty piece of work, which doubtless will be the strongest selling point for this worst-case scenario about steadily escalating dares and degradations.
Time Out
pressThere are satisfying echoes of Stephen King's sly black humour in this deliciously nasty comedy thriller.
The Guardian
pressThe script is smarter than the premise sounds, with writers David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga dispensing enough information to make victims both sympathetic and despicable, the instigators charismatic and sinister.
Variety
pressA thoroughly nasty piece of work, which doubtless will be the strongest selling point for this worst-case scenario about steadily escalating dares and degradations.
Time Out
pressThere are satisfying echoes of Stephen King's sly black humour in this deliciously nasty comedy thriller.
The Guardian
pressThe script is smarter than the premise sounds, with writers David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga dispensing enough information to make victims both sympathetic and despicable, the instigators charismatic and sinister.
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