[soliloquy id=”8239″]
13 Sins, directed by Daniel Stamm, proves that there a very few things some people are not willing to do in exchange for money.
Elliot Brindle (Mark Webber- Jessabelle) is in the midst of planning an expensive wedding and has a baby on the way. His hope for a promotion at work has instead resulted in him being fired, but he puts on a brave front with his fiancée (Rutina Wesley- True Blood), even though he’s facing nearly $100,000 in personal debt with no means of repayment. As well as the wedding and the baby, he also has to care for his newly evicted father (Tom Bower- The Hills have Eyes) and support his mentally disabled younger brother Michael (Devon Graye- Dexter).
As Elliott is stopped at a red light taking longer than usual, his phone rings with the “Entry to the gladiators” tune, which is not his usual ring tone. With a disturbingly gleeful voice, the person on the other end offers Elliot a chance at financial freedom. It starts with a deceptively innocuous challenge. The game show-friendly voice tells him to kill the fly currently buzzing around his head and $1,000 will be deposited straight into his bank account. That’s just one of 13 challenges he’ll have to complete, within 36 hours to win the multi-million-dollar prize.
It’s not too long before the game becomes complicated and he’s moved beyond moral grey areas with the cops on his tail. If he tries to quit he will have to face the penalties for everything he has done and walk away empty handed. Detective Chilcoat (Ron Perlman- Hellboy) is closely tracking his moves, as well as a determined conspiracy theorist (Pruitt Taylor Vince- Constantine, Monster), who’s trying to determine the shadowy origins of the contest.
13 Sins delivers a few twists and turns, and it’s entertaining to watch good men do bad things for good reasons. Depending on how intrigued you are watching a movie about violent mind games, 13 Sins could be an entertaining ride. Ultimately though, I found myself getting slightly bored of the game. A handful of the gory scenes and challenges seemed obtuse and unnecessary but overall, it wasn’t a bad movie and I’d recommend it for the theory.
WICKED RATING: 6/10 [usr 6]
Title: 13 Sins
Director(s): Daniel Stamm
Writer(s): David Birke, Daniel Stamm
Stars: Mark Webber, Devon Graye, Tom Bower
Year: 2014
Studio/ Production Co: RADiUS-TWC, Dimension Films, IM Global
Budget: $5,000,000 (estimated)
Language: English
Length: 93mins
Sub-Genre: Thriller
