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 wrote the first draft of the script in two weeks. Moreover, Gunn got the idea for the story from a dream he had. See more »
Goofs
Whenever the film cuts to the control panel's list of names, several are listed in "First name, Last name" format instead of the standard "Last name, First name" format used for all of the close-up shots. Additionally, some are misspelled, such as "Stve". See more »
Quotes
The Voice:
In two minutes we want thirty of you dead. If thirty of you are not dead, we will end sixty of your lives ourselves. Five, four, three, two, one. Begin.
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
14 of 18 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