A group of adult friends and lovers accept a mysterious invite to an escape room, where they presume to have a night of fun. Alas, this is a pretty high stakes game they find themselves in, and before long blood starts spilling, skin starts peeling, and panic ensues. A couple of lines of dialogue and escalating intrigue between the douchebag protagonists hint at an inside job that feels especially unimaginative on the filmmakers part, only for "Escape Room" to throw a last act curveball. Ordinarily, that would be great, because who wants a blatantly telegraphed twist ending to come true, right? Well, let's just say writer-director Will Wernick and Noah Dorsey didn't exactly opt for a compelling alternative to the love triangle gone sour option. Maybe if you're feeling generous you'll give the conclusion of this mostly lifeless affair a shrug. The film doesn't even have the good grace to make up for its formulaic plotting and obnoxious characters with a delicious dose of gore; what little there is is obscured by bad lighting and editing, and you can't help but think that the movie badly fumbles its setting. "Cube" this ain't. It's not even "Saw". Avoid.
