- Directed by Mark Gantt
- Written by Chris LaMont, Joe Russo
- Stars Neal McDonough, Charlie Weber, Annie Ilonzeh, Starletta DuPois
- Run Time: 1 Hour, 28 Minutes
- Trailer: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XUOmq0pT5HQ
Spoiler-Free Judgment Zone
This kept feeling like it should have been more gripping than it was, like the stakes weren’t high enough for the two main characters directly. But the cast was good, the sets were effective, and the script was clever enough to keep us guessing until the end what was really happening and who was behind it.
Synopsis
We get shots of someone running through an elaborate maze as the credits roll.
A woman wakes up in bed, and she soon notices that she’s handcuffed to a sleeping man. He wakes up and insists that two guys jumped him; he is not behind all this. They soon learn that the door and window are sealed. He’s Jason, and she’s Allison.
They find a business card, “Soul Mates.” They get the door open, and there’s a very industrial-looking corridor outside.
They find a monitor that plays an ad for Soul Mates, a dating service. “The Matchmaker” comes on the screen and introduces a video of Allison doing a profile video for the service. Allison says she recorded it four years ago, but she’s never heard of Soul Mates. Another video comes on, and this time, it’s Jason, also from years ago.
The screen shows a “terms of service” agreement, and then the walls start closing in on them. They scroll through the long terms, and then they both accept them, and the walls stop moving.
They enter another room. This time, it’s one full of monitors showing scenes that make it clear that they’ve both been the victims of a stalker for a while now; lots and lots of private videos. “I think they’ve been following us for years.”
Suddenly, a curtain opens, and there’s a man hanging above a giant meat grinder. Questions come up on the screen, and if they get them right, the man is raised; if they get the answer wrong, he lowers. They miss a question, and the machine grinds up the man.
They see another video, this time of Allison’s grandmother and Jason’s brother. The Matchmaker comes back onscreen and demands that they sing karaoke to save their loved ones. Allison sings, and it’s good enough to save Grandma. Jason, however, gets a song he doesn’t know. He’s so awful that his brother dies.
Next, they both end up in a shower room, and they’re told to clean themselves up for their “first date.” They shower awkwardly and then put on some fancy outfits. There’s a gift box, and inside is another chain cuff to link them.
They sit down at a dinner table, and their server is wearing an electroshock collar. The first course is a big appetizer. The problem is, that they have to eat them all in 60 seconds, or the server pays. They succeed!
Then it’s time for the second course, where they get 120 seconds. It’s a big plate of mashed potatoes and meat. They chow down, and it’s really a lot, but they can’t do it. The server fries and dies.
Next, they go into a little movie theater and watch The Matchmaker again. This time, he shows them Jason’s fiancé, Liana , who admits to having an affair with some other guy. “I never loved you,” she admits. Then someone cuts her throat right there on camera. The man on camera then cuts off a piece of her and cooks it. That was the meal they just ate.
In the next room, they find Mike, Allison’s ex, chained to a chair. When they release him, he’s poisoned and quickly dies. They find a freshly dug grave with Liana in it. “We both have to bury the past,” Jason says. They drag Mike into the grave and fill it in.
Next is the bedroom, where they’re told to have sex. They’re both reluctant, but what choice do they have? Suddenly, the room fills with gas…
They wake up in Jason’s bedroom, in his house. The Matchmaker comes on the television, and he congratulates them on finding their perfect match. “Be grateful for the gift we’ve given you.”
They joke about that being the worst date they’ve ever been on…
Eight months later, they’re still together– and soon to be married. Allison has a nightmare, which is not a new thing for either of them. Packing for their honeymoon, Allison finds the box of handcuffs from before. Why is that here, in his house? There’s also a card, “Jason– thank you for trusting me to help find your soulmate– The Matchmaker.”
He knows that she knows, so he tries to explain. He admits he signed up for the service, and he chose her profile from hundreds. All of that was designed to get the two of them to fall in love. “They killed your brother.” “That wasn’t my brother, it was an actor.” He’s surprisingly OK with all that happened. “No one died; it was all fake. All of it.” He explains how everything was fake, an act. Even her ex, who was paid three hundred grand.
He admits it was all a little unorthodox, but it did work, right? Not so much. She is not okay with it. The two fight and they both beat each other up pretty badly. He chains her to the table and monologues in the other room about how he can kill her if he needs to, and Matchmakers will clean it all up. It’s long enough for her to get loose. She jumps him from behind and strangles him with the chain. Then she calls the Matchmaker number on the card, apparently to order a clean-up of her own.
Commentary
The acting is fine. This is obviously a super low-budget film, but it all looks pretty good, although a bit underlit in most scenes inside the “maze.”
We both expected that, in the end, one or the other of the pair would turn out to be behind everything. Both of them “lost” people they didn’t really care about, so that wasn’t much of a clue. Still, it was all a lot more elaborate than we expected.
It’s a good concept, but it’s really just one tormented scenario after the other, and since there were only two characters, we knew they weren’t going to kill either of them right away. The ending wasn’t completely a surprise, but it was well executed.
We liked it.