Name: Choose or Die
Genre: Horror, Thriller, Science Fiction
Released: 2022-04-15T00:00:00+00:00
Cast: Iola Evans, Asa Butterfield, Robert Englund, Angela Griffin, Ryan Gage

The cursor blinks on a black screen, waiting for your choice: “Proceed?” It’s a simple question, but in Toby Meakins’ Choose or Die, it’s the first of many loaded decisions that blur the line between digital and reality. The film, a Netflix horror release from 2022, pits Iola Evans’ Kayla against an ancient, cursed video game, but its real challenge is making the audience care about the digital detritus of ’80s nostalgia.

Meakins leans into the retro aesthetic with a grimy, pixelated filter that bleeds into reality whenever the game’s curse takes hold. The effect is initially striking—like WarGames meets The Ring—with scenes where text commands manifest physically: a waitress forced to eat broken glass, a mother attacked by a giant rat. Evans delivers a committed performance as Kayla, her desperation palpable when she frantically smashes the game’s tape or hacks into storage facilities with Isaac (Asa Butterfield). The film’s strongest moments come when it embraces its absurdity, like Robert Englund’s campy voiceover, a meta-wink at his Nightmare on Elm Street past.

But Choose or Die stumbles in its execution. The pacing is erratic, with long stretches of exposition about coding and retro gaming that feel like homework between moments of terror. The film’s emotional core—Kayla’s trauma over her brother’s death—is undercut by the contrived mechanics of the game’s curse. When Kayla must “choose” to save Isaac, it’s less a gut-wrenching dilemma than a frustratingly obvious plot point. The supporting cast, particularly Angela Griffin as Kayla’s drug-addicted mother and Eddie Marsan as the sleazy rent collector Lance, chew scenery with hammy relish, but their arcs feel tacked on.

The film’s biggest misstep is its reliance on nostalgia as a substitute for substance. The retro gaming lore and ’80s aesthetic are window dressing for a story that ultimately feels derivative—a Jumanji for millennials with less charm and more grit. Meakins’ direction is uneven, oscillating between genuinely creepy set pieces (the waitress’s death scene is visceral) and awkward transitions (a sudden jump to Hal’s dysfunctional family feels jarring). The score, a mix of synth-heavy tracks and eerie silence, sometimes underscores the tension well but often clashes with the on-screen chaos.

The film’s themes are muddled. On one hand, it’s a critique of escapism—Kayla’s descent into the game mirrors her mother’s addiction to drugs and prostitution. On the other, it romanticizes retro gaming culture, presenting it as a gateway to both terror and triumph. The film can’t decide if it’s a cautionary tale about technology or a love letter to ’80s nostalgia. This ambiguity weakens its impact, leaving the audience adrift in a sea of pixels and plot holes.

The performances are a mixed bag. Evans holds her own as Kayla, but Butterfield’s Isaac feels one-dimensional, reduced to a tech-whiz sidekick with little depth. Griffin and Marsan overact, their characters serving more as obstacles than fully realized people. The standout is Englund, whose voice work adds a layer of dark humor that cuts through the film’s otherwise dour tone.

The film’s structure is another issue. It opens with Hal’s story, a disjointed prologue that feels like an afterthought. His arc—from curious gamer to abusive husband—is rushed, leaving little room for emotional investment. The shift to Kayla’s narrative is abrupt, and the two stories never fully coalesce into a cohesive whole.

Choose or Die has moments of clever horror and a bold premise, but it’s bogged down by its own technical jargon and uneven pacing. It’s a film that wants to be smart but settles for being confusing, to be scary but ends up being silly. It’s for hardcore horror fans who enjoy retro aesthetics and can overlook the plot’s gaps, but casual viewers might find it frustrating.

In the end, Choose or Die is a missed opportunity. With a tighter script, more nuanced performances, and a clearer vision, it could have been a standout in the horror genre.