Craig, is an auto mechanic who loses his job. He is unable to pay his rent and after seeing the eviction sign, he goes to a bar, where he meets someone from his old high school, Vince. A rich couple, Colin and Violet, give them money for completing certain tasks. The tasks are simple at first, but they later become violent.
Ooo, I’m getting uncomfortable already. I’ve always felt that the best thriller films play on themes that the viewer can find relatable. Take Fight Club, for example: who among us hasn’t felt that same malaise and frustration with society that the narrator experiences? In my mind, the key to really getting under your audience’s skin is to twist something they find familiar into something extreme. You know what’s funny? Prank calls. You know what’s not funny? Compliance, the film from last year starring Pat Healy…which brings us to Cheap Thrills. We’ve all played “Name your price” before, but what would you do if you named your price on something insane, and then actually got an offer? That’s the question at the core of Cheap Thrills, and I find it to be a morbidly fascinating one. I mean, think about it…would you cut off your pinkie finger for $25,000? It’s easy to scoff and say no, but what if your life depended on that money? Also, mad props to David Koechner for making comedy scary again. Yikes, man.
Cheap Thrills comes out on VOD on February 14, 2014, and in theatres on March 21, 2014.