The Belko Experiment (2016) Movie Review
Written by: ML
Edited by: Grave Reviews Staff
Film Information
Director: Greg McLean
Producers: Peter Safran, James Gunn
Writers: James Gunn
Date Released: September 10, 2016
Cast:
John Gallagher Jr. as Mike Milch
Tony Goldwyn as Barry Norris
Adria Arjona as Leandra Florez
John C. McGinley as Wendell Dukes
Melonie Diaz as Dany Wilkins
Owain Yeoman as Terry Winters
Sean Gunn as Marty Espenscheid
Josh Brener as Keith McLure
David Dastmalchian as Alonso “Lonny” Crane
Rating = 3/5 Graves
***May contain some spoilers***
Synopsis
The story begins with a strange morning with a lot of commotion going in a secluded office building of Belko Industries in Colombia. There were military personnel checking identification and the Colombian nationals were sent home. The new hire was told that tracking devices are installed in every employee to prevent kidnappings. After the 80th employee arrived, a mysterious voice spoke through the intercom, gave murderous instructions to kill two people by the end of the given time, and the entire building went on lockdown. After they failed to comply, random employees’ tracking devices implanted in their heads exploded. More instructions were given and the remaining employees begin to form alliances and have the courage to kill each other in order to survive.
Gore Factor
The blood spill is overflowing in this movie. Seventy nine employees plus the people in the hangar getting killed through very random methods are sure to win the hearts of gore lovers out there. The best part is the sudden head explosion during the first and second killing instructions. Brains scattering all over the floors and walls, as well as the part where they zoom in to the head to see what made it explode are sights to see. Of course, the usual gunshots, stabbing, slashing, and elevator squishing are some of the death methods in this movie.
The Grave Review
The Belko Experiment (2016) is sometimes labeled as The Hunger Games office version. Adults can surely relate to this battle royale at the workplace especially because of the variety of characters introduced. The entire movie features 80 people in a very limited setting, an enclosed office building.
Because of these many characters, there is no room for character build up. You are just presented with random people killing each other. The lack of character development makes it hard to get attached to anyone. You just watch them die then proceed to the next available character. You don’t even get to sympathize with any of them because time is of the essence. Seventy nine people must be killed within the duration of the movie.
Apart from the lack of character development, you also rarely see the actors acting. All of them are just running around, screaming, dying, getting ruthless, and just plain annoying. They make cringe-worthy decisions at a crucial time. Instead of saving people, they just end up killing more, thus, the sole survivor.
It’s also thought-provoking that the ultimate weapon was a tape dispenser. Out of all available office supplies, it was the chosen one. To think there is a gun in the scene. The sad part about this movie is that there is not much information given about what The Belko Experiment (2016) is all about. There is no explanation why they were doing it. The deformed man at the hangar mentioned something about behavioral studies but that’s about it. The ending calls for a sequel because it zooms out to a bigger screen showing survivors around the world.
Overall, this movie is entertaining but lacks the essential elements in a good storytelling. It’s just pure office-based violence. This is only eye-catching for those looking for brutal killings, blood and guts.
Because of the foregoing reasons, Grave Reviews gives The Belko Experiment (2016) three graves of five graves.
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