Netflix original “Choose or Die” was released on April 15 and is currently sitting at the No. 3 spot for the top movies on Netflix. The film is based around a game called “Curs>r” that forces characters to choose different options that affect real life. If they decide not to choose, they will die. It follows two friends, Kayla (Lola Evans) and Isaac (Asa Butterfield), who try to figure out what is actually going on and how the game works.

The movie performed well, despite its mediocre trailer. It displayed the movie as a cliche piece of trash that should be burned, which is still true after watching it. Though I will admit that it had some pleasing scenes, the summary of the film was misleading as it said Kayla and Isaac played the game to win a prize, but they didn’t play for a prize at all. In fact, a prize was barely even mentioned.

Why this movie got so much traction on Netflix is beyond me. The entire plot idea is overplayed, both through the horror genre and the humor. When making horror movies, it is hard to come up with an original plot. Therefore, you need to make sure that you are able to somehow make the plot seem unique. “Choose or Die” was barely able to do that, but still exceeded my very low expectations.

 There were various scenes that just made me hate the movie. For instance, Kayla’s brother haunting her irritated me, as many horror movies always have to involve someone being haunted by a loved one. Also, the terrible acting in some scenes was nearly one of my breaking points. When the random guy in the beta “Curs>r” video had to act as if he was eating his arm, I thought I was watching a kindergartener pretend to be an actor. I don’t know who is worse, the arm biter or Kayla’s mom. Speaking of Kayla’s mom, I’m not sure if we’re supposed to sympathize with her because of her illness, or hate her because she keeps blaming Kayla for her son’s death. 

Despite all of that, there were some really good things in the movie — specifically, the ambience and cinematography. I was in love with the scenery in the first few seconds of the movie. The lighting and attention to detail that was in each scene, especially when Kayla’s apartment was trashed, was impressive. I even enjoyed seeing the foggy pool scene. Plus the editing of the movie is elite. How they were able to seamlessly connect the two wounds when one person tried to injure themself and the other would get injured instead was amazing. However, none of this was enough to change my mind on how bad this movie was.

Moral of the story, it’s OK to have bad actors; all you need is great editing and cinematography and you’ll still make it big on Netflix. This movie isn’t completely terrible. Though the plot is kind of cliche, I really do love how they were able to make some twists to it. Still, even with those twists, it’s mediocre in general, and without the somewhat cool moments, this film is complete trash. I wouldn’t recommend that you watch this movie unless you have absolutely nothing better to do.