In a twisted social experiment, eighty Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company's intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed.
Mike Milch, an employee of Belko Industries, while driving to work is stopped by street vendors selling "lucky" handmade dolls. Barry Norris, also of Belko Industries, arrives at the remote office building in rural Bogotá, Colombia, to find unfamiliar security guards turning away the local Colombian staff at the gate. New employee Dany Wilkins reports for her first day on the job and is told that a tracking device is implanted in the base of every Belko employee's skull in case they are kidnapped. This is explained as being common in Colombia due to the high incidences of kidnapping.
James Gunn was originally set to direct this film from his screenplay. However, when it was time to begin, Gunn withdrew, deciding he didn't want to spend several months working on such a violent film. He was also going through a divorce at the time. and withdrew from the project. He later said that he was surprised the movie was moving forward with Greg McLean as the new director. He was happy that he hadn't been asked again to direct, and he looked forward to seeing how McLean brought his script to the big screen. See more »
Goofs
The building supposedly became a giant defacto Faraday cage, but they are able to pick up a local radio station from inside the building. But nothing supports that the metal around the building is also acting as a Faraday cage. In many outside shots the of building you can see a tower on the roof with 3 Sector antennas positioned around it, this is likely a cell tower and due to the remote location likely the only one providing service to the area. With the level of expertise shown by the perpetrators it would be simple to disable this tower during the lockdown. It is also easily more probable a cell jammer or jammers could have been activated in or near the building. See more »
Quotes
Barry Norris:
Hey, listen up, everybody, whoever's doing this, they're having a little fun at our expense.
See more »
Piano Concerto No. 1 in B Flat Minor, 1. Allegro Non Troppo E Molto Maestoso
Written by Pyotr Ilyich Tchaikovsky (as Peter I. Tchaikovsky)
Courtesy of Boosey & Hawkes Classical
Under license from 5 Alarm Music See more »
I'd been looking forward to The Belko Experiment since the moment I saw the trailer, it looked like it was going to tap into a sub-genre I love and the addition of the always excellent John C. McGinley really appealed.
The time came around to watch it and as the credits rolled I was left more than a little disappointed. But why?
It tells the story of an office block that goes on a lockdown, a mysterious booming voice barks orders at them that they must kill each other off in a sick social experiment. As you can imagine people react differently, and a blood bath ensues.
Also starring career villain Tony "Ghost" Goldwyn, Josh Brener, Michael Rooker and Gregg Henry this James "Guardians of the Galaxy" Gunn written movie is a bloody battle royale type but just doesn't seem to accomplish in its goals.
It has little character development, the lack of flow becomes very noticeable around the halfway mark and at no point did I find myself really able to care about these peoples plight.
I went into The Belko Experiment with high expectations, maybe that damaged the film for me? Regardless it's a watchable effort but certainly feels like a missed opportunity at something greater. For some reason I was left feeling that the film would have made for a better black comedy, but I'll guess we'll never know.
The Good:
Great concept
Strong social commentary
Quite a good finale
The Bad:
Doesn't flow all to well
Simply doesn't meet its potential
3 of 3 people found this review helpful.
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I'd been looking forward to The Belko Experiment since the moment I saw the trailer, it looked like it was going to tap into a sub-genre I love and the addition of the always excellent John C. McGinley really appealed.
The time came around to watch it and as the credits rolled I was left more than a little disappointed. But why?
It tells the story of an office block that goes on a lockdown, a mysterious booming voice barks orders at them that they must kill each other off in a sick social experiment. As you can imagine people react differently, and a blood bath ensues.
Also starring career villain Tony "Ghost" Goldwyn, Josh Brener, Michael Rooker and Gregg Henry this James "Guardians of the Galaxy" Gunn written movie is a bloody battle royale type but just doesn't seem to accomplish in its goals.
It has little character development, the lack of flow becomes very noticeable around the halfway mark and at no point did I find myself really able to care about these peoples plight.
I went into The Belko Experiment with high expectations, maybe that damaged the film for me? Regardless it's a watchable effort but certainly feels like a missed opportunity at something greater. For some reason I was left feeling that the film would have made for a better black comedy, but I'll guess we'll never know.
The Good:
Great concept
Strong social commentary
Quite a good finale
The Bad:
Doesn't flow all to well
Simply doesn't meet its potential