Common Sense Media Review
By Barbara Shulgasser-Parker
,
based on child development research. How do we rate?
Husband and wife try to kill each other for money; language.
Parents Need to Know
Why Age 13+?
Any Positive Content?
Where to Watch
Videos and Photos
Kill Me If You Dare
Parent and Kid Reviews
What's the Story?
In KILL ME IF YOU DARE, Piotr (Mateusz Banasiuk) and Natalia (Weronika Ksiazkiewicz) have been married five years and although they live in a beautiful home and he drives a fancy Mustang convertible, they complain they have no money. They don't seem to like each other much, either. They tell each other lies and seem in competition with each other rather than in a cooperative partnership. When they buy a lottery ticket and Natalia contributes more cash to the purchase, she says she will own a bigger share if they win. They do win -- a million dollars -- and the particulars of the relationship's badness magnifiy exponentially. Without consulting her husband, Natalia quits her job, then rents a space for the café she's always wanted to open, two enormous decisions most normal couples would make together. Without consulting Natalia, Piotr collects all the winnings in cash and brings the bills home, as if it's normal or advisable to keep a million in cash in one's house. Amid all their natural antagonism, they accept the advice of her best friend Agata (Agnieszka Wiedlocha) and his best friend Lukasz (Piotr Rugocki) that the other spouse is planning to kill them. What will happen to this couple?
Is It Any Good?
Kill Me if You Dare is farfetched and dumb. In scene after scene, the slow-witted are led by the slow-witted in coming to mindless conclusions and illogical assumptions. Who would put a million dollars in cash in a home safe? Why would best friends force themselves on a couple having a romantic anniversary weekend to themselves? You'd think it would be a little more difficult to convince a husband that his wife is trying to kill him but, it appears, the more knuckleheaded the husband, the easier the convincing. And just to prove how equally slow-witted is Natalia, she is just as eager to believe that her husband is trying to kill her.
Nothing here feels the least bit real or funny. A gag depends on a guest having to roll his own suitcase uphill to a hotel's door. There's no bellman at a luxury resort? Awkward and unfunny, this fails on multiple levels -- clumsy and oafish plot, script, performances and direction. Finally, at the end, as if even the writer and director themselves recognize that no human beings could ever behave as brainlessly as the people in this movie, two characters consume a hallucinogen in order to explain why they are acting like lunkheads.
Talk to Your Kids About ...
Families can talk about the ways in which Mateusz and Natalia seem to deeply dislike each other long before the complication of winning a lot of money affects their relationship. How does this set up or contradict what follows?
Although both seem to have good jobs, drive nice cars, and have a beautiful apartment, the main characters complain they have no money. Does that make them seem spoiled or unappreciative of all the advantages they have?
Does it make sense for them to want to kill each other? Why or why not?
Movie Details
- On DVD or streaming : February 13, 2024
- Cast : Mateusz Banasiuk , Weronika Ksiazkiewicz , Agnieszka Wiedlocha , Piotr Rugocki
- Director : Filip Zylber
- Studio : Netflix
- Genre : Comedy
- Run time : 94 minutes
- MPAA rating :
- Last updated : February 21, 2024
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