Pledge (2019) Official non-spoiler review.
- Jimmy Ray
- Mar 3, 2019
- 2 min read
More than a decade ago, Pledge would have been quite original and made a bigger impact. As it is, the film is yet another in the Would you Rather? (2012) and 13 Sins (2014) sub-genre of "Oh dear I am in a pickle, what choices can I make to survive and keep my humanity intact?". Both of those films did the formula better but regardless, Is Pledge any good?
Pledge is a very simple premise (with TWO twists in store!) about three nerdy college geeks who want to join a fraternity so bad they wind up in a really bad situation. What will they do. what choices will they make, will they survive? The pacing here is pretty decent with each new "segment" of the story coming right on time, almost as chapters but with no bookmarks. Production and camera work are top notch.
Pledge tries really hard to carve it's own niche in the vast horror empire yet only succeeds somewhat. I've heard disdain for some of the characters as annoying or one-dimensional and I concur yet I will add that as there are annoying folks in real life, I try not to make this a factor. The characters do feel as if they were cut from the standard cloth, nerds are nerdy and actually pretty dumb when a pretty girl talks to them, and the frat bullies are caricatures exactly what you've come to expect. The overall proceedings feel familiar and the twists aren't impossible to see coming. The side plot involving the girls felt tacked on and unnecessary.
That said, I will add...Who cares?!!! Caricatures or not the actors have injected them with life and play them to the hilt. They are having fun here and it translates quite well.
Jesse Pimentel...Brett.
All of them did fine in making their characters exactly what they needed to be. For added fun bring in a squeamish friend and watch their reaction to the "eating" scene!
If you can stomach the brutality, yes there are some cringe-worthy scenes, you will get some good, unbridled entertainment out of this one. The twists near the end make it even better and you could do much worse than add this to your playlist. I LIKED it!!!!
3.5/5
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