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Parents' Guide to

Choose or Die

By Brian Costello, Common Sense Media Reviewer

age 16+

Horror tale about '80s video game; gore, violence, language.

Movie NR 2022 84 minutes
Choose Or Die Movie Poster

A Lot or a Little?

What you will—and won't—find in this movie.

Community Reviews

age 15+

Based on 2 parent reviews

age 17+

Disturbing but not in a good way

That was so disturbing. Psychological horror that messes with your head. Shame the acting wasn't top notch but gore was horrifically realistic.
age 12+

Is It Any Good?

Our review:
Parents say (2 ):
Kids say (9 ):

This is a creepy and unsettling horror movie in the best possible ways. Choose or Die is the story of two young adults who unwittingly unleash an '80s computer game with demonic and murderous tendencies. It forces the player to make lose-lose decisions, and the imagery that results in these decisions is almost always disturbing and frightening. While some moments with this premise work better than others, the movie offers a tight story, perfectly paced, with acting that goes far beyond standard horror fare.

The movie also does a refreshing job of exploring and commenting on '80s nostalgia without beating the viewer over the head with it. Quite the opposite, actually, and without spoiling anything, there's a use of '80s synth-legend Gary Numan lyrics near the end that's both clever and darkly hilarious. This is the rare horror movie that proves that a basic and effective story can do more to scare and entertain than an overreliance on blood, guts, shrieky background music, and all the usual horror movie bag of clichéd tricks.

Movie Details

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