By HANNAH SIEGEL

The Mirror reporter

I needed to find somebody with friends, that I could trick into coming here. I could tell Olivia was an easy target. I brought you all up here because I am okay with strangers dying if it means I get to live.

Truth or Dare is a PG-13 horror movie directed by Jeff Wadlow, produced by Jason Blum through Blumhouse Productions and distributed by Universal Pictures. Truth or Dare was released in theaters on April 13, 2018. The movie stars Lucy Hale as Olivia, Tyler Posey as Lucas, Violett Beane as Marki, Hayden Szeto as Brad, Landon Liboiron as Carter, and Sophia Ali as Penelope. 

The story follows Olivia, Lucas and a group of their college friends to Mexico for one last getaway before graduation. While there, a stranger convinces one of the students to play a seemingly harmless game of truth or dare with the others. Once the game starts, it awakens something evil — a demon which forces the friends to share dark secrets and confront their deepest fears. The rules are simple but wicked — tell the truth or die, do the dare or die, and if you stop playing, you die.

Truth or Dare has many climatic moments however, after them, nothing happened. Yes, the movie had a good storyline and the story was acted out well but I feel there could have been more. When I go to see a horror movie I expect to be huddled up in my seat, wrapped in a giant blanket or sweatshirt, and stress eating the candy I just bought at the Dollar Store. I got none of this. A few parts where surprising and just straight up creepy, especially when the dead woman sits up and randomly appears. But still, I was hoping for a seat jumping horror movie where you’re scared to walk outside after and it wasn’t.

You could definitely tell the movie was PG-13 and it appeared cheaply made. It was still entertaining and a good movie to see, although the ending was obvious… the characters did a great job, there was a plot, and there was a storyline/backstory.

When it comes to many horror movies they don’t have a backstory for the origins and reasoning for the evil, but “Truth or Dare” did. This was surprising to me, I expected it to just be a scary game with no purpose, but I genuinely respected that they added a backstory. I feel it’s something that’s really important in a movie and can help add and explain a lot.

Even though the movie wasn’t scary for me, the movie was overall unique and cool. A great example of this was the creepy smiles. It gave the movie an iconic visual that will stick with you even after you finish watching. You can see this in many other movies too and they’re just as iconic, like Ghostface in the Scream series or a hockey mask and chainsaw from Friday the 13th. They all play an important part in a movie and allow each film to have a different vibe. Whether it be scary or funny it plays a determining role in whether or not the film is well remembered.

Unlike other cliché horror films where some demon is “haunting” the house or people, this film took a different approach. They had a group of friends doing the “haunting” and killing. This concept also played well in friendship, bonds/truth-telling, and trust. You really dive in and get to know the characters, therefore forming a sort of bond with them. You don’t see that in a lot of horror movies and it definitely added character and made the story more believable.

All in all, this was a good movie. I wouldn’t rate it my favorite horror movie because compared to Descendant and The Conjuring it’s a walk in the park to watch. However, when it comes to a teen-friendly semi-scary movie it does a great job. You get those few shivers but also feel comfortable leaving the theater, for you don’t feel you will be killed later.