Would You Rather Movie: Every Party Game Explained

Every party game in the Would You Rather movie is incredibly difficult to watch, but also shows why the chilling 2012 thriller is still widely discussed. Would You Rather stars Brittany Snow as Iris, a young woman looking after her sick brother Raleigh. She gets invited by mysterious philanthropist Lambrick (Jeffrey Combs) to take part in a game that, if she wins, means a bone marrow donor will be found for her brother. Once she arrives at the mansion it soon becomes clear Lambrick’s Saw-like game of “would you rather” is one of survival, resulting in players making choices between being maimed or killed.

Each Would You Rather party game increases the stakes and only one player can win the night. Would You Rather’s horrific tasks kick off with Lambrick offering players money in exchange for breaking principles. He offers the vegetarian Iris ten grand to eat a steak and recovering alcoholic Conway (John Heard) fifty thousand to drink a decanter of scotch. It’s not clear to players just how dark the night is going to get until an electric shock machine is rolled out and Conway is executed when he tries to leave, and that’s when the most horrific Would You Rather party games begin.

The First Party Game: Would You Rather Be Electrocuted Or Electrocute Another Player

A Shocking Start To The Evening’s Events

The first Would You Rather party game sees the contestants given the choice between electrocuting themselves or another player. Compared to the violent nature of the party games that Lambrick submits his guests to later on in the evening, the first game is relatively tame. However, given that the players are yet to experience just how far Lambrick is willing to push them, they’re all understandably appalled by what they’re required to do. Any thoughts of leaving are also quickly put to rest after the death of Conway, and the players know they have no choice but to proceed.

Once the first party game in Would You Rather begins and the guests experience the high voltage of the electric shocks, it dawns on them that Lambrick has set up an evening that will likely end in multiple fatalities. Cal (Eddie Steeples) chooses to shock himself over Amy (Sasha Grey), who in turn has no hesitation shocking the elderly, paralyzed Linda (June Squibb). The first party game ends with Iris shocking herself over Cal, and no one is eliminated.

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The Second Party Game: Would You Rather Stab Another Player Or Whip Travis

Party Game Number Two Dials Up The Cruelty

The second party game in Would You Rather significantly ups the levels of violence for the players, and Lambrick forces them to choose between two acts that wouldn’t be out of place in a torture movie like Hostel. This Would You Rather game gives the party guests the choice between stabbing another player in the thigh with an ice pick or whipping ex-marine Travis (Charlie Hofheimer) three times with a sjambok (a kind of heavy leather whip traditionally made from the hide of a rhino or hippopotamus).

Travis volunteers each time to spare other players, but when it becomes clear he can take no more, Peter (Robb Wells) chooses to stab Linda. This proves to be a mistake, and she quickly bleeds to death. Cal ends the game by whipping the unconscious Travis, which puts him out of the game. Between games, players try to make a run for it, resulting in Cal being shot dead by Lambrick.

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The Third Party Game: Would You Rather Be Drowned For Two Minutes Or Take A Mystery Penalty

Party Game Number Three Contains The Movie’s Most Visceral Moments

In the game following the harrowing ice pick or sjambok game, the players are given an even more dire choice, which is to either risk being drowned or carry out a mystery act courtesy of a randomly selected card. Would You Rather’s third party game sees contestants choosing between having their heads held underwater for two minutes, or selecting a card with an unknown penalty. Of course, the card penalties are incredibly brutal, and the players that choose them instantly regret doing so. It’s during the third party game that one of the most brutal and memorable scenes takes place.

Peter chooses the card and is forced to hold a firecracker in his closed fist. The explosion destroys his hand, and he dies of a heart attack. Lucas (Enver Gjoka) chooses the card and is given 30 seconds to slit open his eye with a razor blade or be shot. He slices the eye very reluctantly, while Iris chooses the barrel, and she survives the two minutes. Would You Rather’s third game ends with Amy picking her card, learning she must be held underwater for four minutes instead of two, and she ends up drowning.

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The Final Party Game: Would You Rather Leave With Nothing Or Shoot Lucas

Iris Has To Make A Harrowing Choice

Party game number 4 in Would You Rather isn’t the most brutal of the evening, but it does have more fatal consequences for at least one of the guests. The final game comes down to the two remaining players, Iris and Lucas. Iris is given a choice; end the game, and they can both leave empty-handed, or shoot Lucas.

Iris chooses the latter, killing Lucas in exchange for money and a bone marrow donor for her brother — though the final scene ends on a darkly ironic note for Iris. When she returns home she discovers that Raleigh, who felt like an incredible burden for his sister, took his own life. This renders everything Iris went through — from the physical pain she suffered through to the emotional torment of knowing she’d maimed others and killed Lucas — was all for nothing. While it wasn’t part of the games, Iris learning Raleigh’s eventual fate was by far one of the most harrowing moments in Would You Rather.

Would You Rather (2012)

Director

David Guy Levy

Release Date

February 8, 2013

Studio(s)

Periscope Entertainment , Social Construct , Dreamher Productions , Lambrick Foundation , The

Writers

Steffen Schlachtenhaufen

Cast

Brittany Snow , Jeffrey Combs , Jonny Coyne , Lawrence Gilliard Jr. , Enver Gjokaj

Runtime

93 Minutes

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