absolutely killer premise, banger performance by samara weaving but never really came together for me. it all fell on the wrong side of twee - too many nods and winks - too confident in its own cleverness. running gags fell too early and too regularly.
the whole movie takes place in a huge "clue" mansion that is basically squandered - i wish i'd seen clearer, more distinct set-pieces with the individual family members (fight the aunt in a room full of suits of armour, take out the weird sister among parrots and damp ferns in a huge greenhouse, lose a brother in law in a hedge maze). instead, despite a "survive until sunrise" ticking clock, weaving essentially blunders through a lot of similar rooms doing the same thing over and over again until the movie decides it needs to end and sunrise comes.
and i hate to be the sicko who's so often like "i wish it was meaner" but i do. i do wish it was meaner. and it can stay a horror comedy! zero in on the family members and their delight at the horrible game, give weaving more to do and more to fail at so that her successes hit harder and feel better. make the house scarier.
it's a shame. i feel like it's at the central point of a venn diagram of a lot of things that would really land for me but almost all of them fell flat
