Sometimes the Devil likes to torture people before taking their souls, so he gets them in a group, hides among them, and really freaks them out. One such group is comprised of Vince (Geoffrey Arend), a con artist, Jane (Jenny O’Hara), a snobby middle-aged woman, Ben (Bokeem Woodbine), a security guard with a violent temper, Sarah (Bojana Novakovic), a gold digger, and Tony (Logan Marshall-Green), who accidentally killed someone. The five of them are trapped in an elevator (with a steady stream of Muzak—sounds like punishment to me). They’re being monitored by security guards Lustig (Matt Craven) and Ramirez (Jacob Vargas), a religious man (standing in here for the genre-standard superstitious Latinx maid character that always knows how to fight demons) who quickly figures out what’s going on. Also in the mix are two detectives (Chris Messina, Joshua Peace). As the five damned people die off one by one, the survivors have to scramble to avoid being next.
It’s an interesting choice on the part of the filmmakers not to focus much on the wrongdoing of the main characters. Their misdeeds are only discussed in passing by the detectives. All the audience really sees is a bunch of scared people acting aggressively because they’re cornered. It helps to make us care about them, despite being told in the first few minutes that they’re all doomed. (The plot is a bit overemphasized, with a voiceover by Ramirez at the beginning, then a rehashing for both his coworker and the detectives).
It’s conceived by M. Night Shyamalan and directed by John Erick Dowdle. The film is quite entertaining and fast-paced, jumping right into the story. Despite its fatalistic premise, it’s ultimately optimistic, showing human capacity for selflessness and forgiveness. It’s spiritual without being overly preachy. It’s also a bit creepy at times; the Devil is shown in human form with iris-less black eyes—it’s not an original look, but eerie all the same. To paraphrase Ramirez, we all believe in the Devil a little. Give it a look if you’re in the mood for something quick (runtime is an hour twenty) and pretty fun.
GhoulieJoe 