Currently playing on video on demand platforms
Director: E.L. Katz
MPAA Rating: NR
Film Pulse Score: 7.5/10
Trying to goad your buddies into doing something humiliating, gross, or dangerous for money is something nearly everyone does. Rarely does the event actually happen and even more rarely is there ever an actual monetary gain. In E.L. Katz’s Cheap Thrills, this concept is explored and blown out of proportion to levels of ridiculous your friends could only dream of reaching.
The film stars Pat Healy as a devoted husband and father who loses his job the same day he discovers an eviction notice plastered on his home. Feeling down, he decides to pay a visit to a local watering hole here he reunites with a friend he hasn’t seen for years, played by Ethan Embry. After a few drinks, the two meet a wealthy couple (David Koechner and Sara Paxton) who begin to ask the guys to perform various actions for money. Things start off simple enough- first person to drink a shot of tequila gets 50 bucks. As the night wears on, the bets begin to escalate and the group eventually ends up at the couple’s home where the real game begins.
Healy and Embry’s characters seem polar opposites of one another. Healy reluctantly agrees to play the game after realizing how much money he stands to gain, which will help provide for his family. This is his driving force in succeeding. Embry on the other hand portrays a man-child, trapped in his twenties who will do most anything for a buck. His motivations are purely opportunistic and selfish. This creates an almost instant tension between the two, which grow increasingly violent as the challenges become more intense.
The film is darkly comedic, but has a dirtiness about it that gets under your skin early on and never subsides. Even Healy’s character, who is seemingly doing these things for his family, feels irredeemable by the end. This is exactly what the filmmaker intended- to get under your skin and make you feel uneasy. It evokes a nervous type of laughter that causes you to question your own morals as you watch. It also makes you think about the lengths you’d go through to make some scratch, and at what price you can be bought. How much would you have to get paid to relinquish one of your fingers? For the folks in Cheap Thrills, surprisingly not very much.
Cheap Thrills is not a nice film. It’s bold, disgusting, violent, depraved, and a hell of a lot of fun. With some strong performances from the entire cast and a tight script from David Chirchirillo and Trent Haaga, this should easily make it to the top of your watch list.
