Everyone Is Going To Die
Two masked strangers. One twisted lesson. No one is safe.
An isolated house. An estranged father and daughter are trying to mend their relationship, and people in masks appear. I bet you've heard that premise a time or two before. It's the epitome of paint-by-numbers storytelling and rarely works.
Writer/Director Craig Tuohy took that paint-by-numbers premise, slammed his hands into the paint, attacked the canvas, and crafted a chaotic, macabre masterpiece that I loved. I saw where the film was going early on and went into cruise control. "Yep, there's that beat. Oh, there's that one." But by the end, Tuohy rope-a-doped me with the skill of Muhammad Ali and left me with my jaw on the floor.
"Everyone is Going to Die" is a deceptive title, but we'll get to that later. We meet Daniel Crane (Brad Moore), a successful land developer and architect, as he's shooing his latest conquest out of his house before his teenage daughter arrives. The home is littered with the remnants of last night's activities – lines of cocaine, toys of various shapes and sizes and wine-stained carpet. Imogen (Gledisa Arthur) was recently suspended from school, and it also happens to be her 16th birthday, so Daniel has arranged for her to spend some time with him.
The duo is at odds from the moment she arrives, but will quickly turn to each other when two unexpected guests arrive to make sure Imogen's 16th birthday is one she will never forget. The guests we come to learn as Comedy (Jaime Winstone) and Tragedy (Chiara D'Anna) kick off a night of terror where Daniel will be forced to answer for his actions, and Imogen will discover her father's dark secrets go beyond anything she could imagine.
Comedy and Tragedy's gift for Imogen is a shotgun that they will use to hold father and daughter hostage. They take them through various scenarios that are mostly set to humiliate Daniel. However, when they ask where the safe is, Daniel believes he's figured out their ruse.
He's in the process of building affordable housing, and he believes Comedy and Tragedy are climate change activists and are there to bully him into dropping the project. They know everything about his business dealings and instruct him to transfer a million dollars into an account they provide.
Shortly after the financial transfer is completed, Daniel's able to wrestle the gun away from Comedy, but just when it looks like the tables have turned, Daniel levels the shotgun at Comedy and pulls the trigger only to hear "click" – the gun was never loaded.
Daniel and Imogen are able to get away to another part of the house, with Imogen hiding in the attic when Comedy and Tragedy find Daniel. Armed with a new, loaded gun, the game of cat and mouse continues. Daniel points out they've got their money, and they can leave. He's told, "But you still haven't learned your lesson."
Imogen learns a disturbing fact as she tries to find a way out of the attic – their intruders have been sleeping in the attic and watching her father's every move, so they know anyway in or out of the house is using that to their advantage. Things go from bad to worse when Daniel's conquest from the beginning of the film returns and is quickly blown away by Comedy.
What's telling is that as things progressively get worse, Tragedy, who has been quiet most of the film, protests and even, at times, displays a conscience her counterpart lacks. Tragedy, at times, seems almost unwilling to participate in the events, but as the film powers towards its end, it's obvious she'll do whatever needs to be done for Daniel to learn his lesson.
As they gather Daniel and Imogen, Comedy sets the stage and begins directing the final scene of her morality play, with Daniel and Tragedy taking center stage. As the lesson unfolds in increasingly disturbing ways, Imogen is forced to watch as her father is broken by each revelation that Comedy and Tragedy present to him.
"Everyone is Going to Die" delivers two excellent twists to close out the film and does it in a superb way. While I already knew the lesson, the twists hit me out of left field, and I loved being rocked like that.
The story of "Everyone is Going to Die" is excellent, but the performances really power this film. Winstone and Moore are great against each other, and I loved every second of it. Arthur and D'Anna are wonderful as well, with D'Anna's understated performance really standing out.
My only complaint about the film is that its title is misleading. As I've stated, not everyone dies in the film, so maybe I missed something it was alluding to. Despite not getting the high body count the title promises, the film is satisfying, nonetheless.
"Everyone is Going to Die" is a top-notch thriller with compelling performances and a pulse-pounding finale packed with sharp turns and shocking revelations you won't want to miss.