Elevator (2011) Film Review
When the emergency stop button creates an emergency:
The cover that Netflix uses for this movie is so misleading. It features a woman being dragged into an elevator by some sort of monster. There is no monster. The woman on the cover does not even appear in the movie. Elevator is about nine people that get stuck in an elevator after an insufferable ten-year-old stops it. It is revealed that one of them has a bomb and they must figure out a way to escape. It is not a deep psychological thriller like Netflix claims, but it does manage to hold your attention and it ends up being rather humorous.
Since the premise is so simple, I don’t want to reveal too much. Aside from the intro, the entire movie takes place in an elevator. There are a few things about the setup that left me kind of confused. The movie starts off with people arriving to a party that is at the very top of a 52 story building. Clearly taking an elevator is the only logical way to get there as walking up that many flights of stairs in formal attire would be a nightmare. It sounds like there was going to be a lot of people attending this party as there is someone waiting outside the elevator urging people to wait for it to get full before going up. I would imagine that it would take a few minutes for each trip to be completed for a building that tall so it is understandable that elevator travel be as efficient as possible. An easier solution would have just been to host the party on the ground floor. Other than that there are no plot holes that I found while watching this movie.
What makes Elevator pleasing to watch is the acting. None of the characters are bland or generic and you can feel the tension between them as their futures continue to grow bleaker. I really hope that this is intentional, but it feels like a dark comedy. Some moments are just too absurd for it not to be a dark comedy. Absurd is the perfect word to describe this movie. If you are looking for a crazy movie to watch, Elevator might be just what you are looking for.
