It is hard to imaging screwing up this plot: urban explorers break into a hotel with a long scary history, confront evil, and have to escape. But the MillennialMovie™ managed to make it boring.
Postmodern movies are comprised entirely of teachable moments, sort of like Soviet propaganda. Characters do not act, but instead discuss action, and whoever is deemed ideologically right takes over leadership.
Not only that, the acting is horrible. The actors argue their lines rather than present them as an organic outpouring from the character. As a result, every scene feels like C-SPAN adapted to a horror movie.
Making things worse, the drama is fake. The forces that oppose them are physical and can be conquered. But when action is finally taken, it seems like a random choice of a character, not a culmination of action.
Like most millennials, these people are so saturated in equality propaganda that they view success in life as a matter of getting into the right firm, right project, and right role.
After that, you get promoted for seniority, and so doing the job well is secondary. That shows in the acting, which is phoned-in, as well as the writing, which is paint-by-numbers plus mystical posturing.
Like most Millennial Movies,™ this one features an aggregate of everything that succeeded in cinema from 1996 onward. The slow-burn, found footage, emo introspection etc eat up screen time.
Consequently, the actual mystery — the purpose of the fjucking film! — gets short shrift, and instead you get a stream of millennial clichés warring it out for screen time.
This movie reminds me of metal now, in that it is mediocre and pointless, yet people tune in to check the box and have something “new” to talk about. If you miss it you will lose nothing.
