Picture the scene: a group of ordinary office workers are informed over the tannoy that they must abide by the rules of a sick, twisted experiment or risk being killed in cold blood. Their task? To murder a number of their co-workers while housed up in a workplace under lockdown, otherwise they’ll be bumped off in gruesome fashion – “kill three of your coworkers, or we will kill six others.”
Welcome to The Belko Experiment, James Gunn and director Greg McLean’s white-knuckle ride that tears down the pillars of society, before tapping into the most primitive instincts of the human mind – fight or flight, survival of the fittest, you name it. Evoking memories of The Hunger Games and particular Battle Royale, Gunn’s script lays the foundation for a brutal battle to the death, as those trapped in the building quickly realize that the instructions relayed through the PA system aren’t the basis of some unspeakable prank, they’re real.
Offering a much more extensive peek into the carnage than Monday’s teaser, The Belko Experiment reeks of dark, psychological drama, and you’ll be able to get a sense of the bloodbath that awaits up above. On board for the thriller are John Gallager Jr., Tony Goldyn, John C. McGinley, David Dastmalchian and Gregg Henry, along with Guardians of the Galaxy duo Michael Rooker and Sean Gunn.
The Belko Experiment debuts on March 17, 2017 but beforehand, you can find out what our resident horror expert Matt Donato had to say about McLean’s workplace thriller coming out of TIFF.
It at first seems to be an ordinary morning on the job for a group of Americans working for a not-for-profit in a modern office building in Colombia. After noticing that their Colombian colleagues have not arrived for work, office worker Mike (John Gallagher, Jr.) spots some unfamiliar security guards entering a large hangar nearby. Moments later, an icy voice comes over the building’s PA system and calmly explains that the employees must kill a certain number of their co-workers — if not, they will be killed themselves. While the boss (Tony Goldwyn) tries to calm the troops, Mike belatedly realizes that something truly sinister is going on — and when metal doors come sliding down on all the building’s exits and windows, it becomes clear that friends and colleagues are now suddenly enemies in a bloody and brutal battle to the death.
