Play Dead — Play Dead( VOD)

Play Dead (2025) is an Argentine survival horror slasher from director Carlos Goitia (Nightmare Radio: The Night Stalker and The 100 Candles Game: The Last Possession). Written by Gonzalo Mellid and Camilo Zaffora, it stars Paula Brasca (What the Waters Left Behind and Focus) alongside a largely unknown cast including Damian Castillo, Catalina Motto, and Marta Quarleri. The film premiered at the 47th Moscow International Film Festival and follows a woman who wakes up in a basement surrounded by corpses and must play dead to survive a masked killer's ritualistic game.

After being kidnapped, Alison (Paula Brasca) wakes up injured in a basement, piled into a heap on the floor with other women, all of whom she believes are dead. She has a nasty gash in her stomach and, in true slasher-survival mode, sews it up herself. (I often wonder if I would ever have the guts to do that; let's hope I never wake up in someone's basement one day.) Her phone dies, she tries to figure out what's going on, and then this huge beast of a man (Damien Castillo) pads down the stairs. She runs back to her spot and assumes her role as one of the dead. He walks in and lifts one of the girls onto his shoulders. He has a bit of a Shrek-like gait as he carries them off, their limp bodies hanging while Alison peeks through barely open eyes, trying not to be seen as alive. He wears a creepy mask, and I'm not quite sure if it's leather or made from the skin of the victims he collects. She has to try to escape or get help, but this damn Shrek-man keeps coming and going, forcing her to play dead. As Emily (Catalina Motto), one of the other women,  wakes up, things happen, and more of the story begins to unfold.

I was quite surprised at how short the film was. Just seventy-two minutes, but that works in its favour. It avoids the unnecessary padding that some slashers use to stretch their runtime to industry standards, and in that respect, I liked it. I won't spoil anything, but from the midpoint onwards, things start to become clearer, and there's one decision I personally would never have made. The plot takes a turn I wasn't expecting, and I found myself both amused and glued to the screen at the same time. Yes, it's a concept that has been done before, but it's given its own twist here. 

There's nothing particularly boring, offensive or frustrating about Play Dead, it's just a solid slasher that finishes with a slightly unexpected twist. Mwahahaha.