Genre: Survival Horror | Director: John Lechago | Release Date: 2024
A group of hunters travel to a mysterious island to track down a legendary forest creature. They soon realize their guide has set them up as bait, forcing them to confront a highly intelligent predator that terrorizes them one by one.
Plot
Mortal Game sets up an intriguing premise on paper — a team of seasoned hunters traveling to a remote island in search of a legendary forest creature. Unfortunately, the film’s execution turns this promising setup into a frustrating mess. The characters, meant to be skilled hunters, display almost no hunting knowledge or tactics whatsoever. We learn next to nothing about them beyond surface-level traits, making it hard to care when the creature inevitably picks them off. Jessie, the main protagonist, is the clearest example of the film’s narrative problems. Her backstory is muddy, her motivations are underdeveloped, and she makes baffling decisions, such as refusing to use a flare on a gasoline-soaked creature — a move that could have saved another character, Bailey.
Speaking of Bailey, her leg gets trapped in some branches in one scene, yet she ignores the axe strapped to her back. These moments, which could have been tense survival beats, instead expose lazy writing and inconsistent logic. Alex, perhaps the most competent character, still can’t rise above the weak scripting. The guide’s betrayal — setting the group up as bait — is a good twist in theory but is squandered by the lack of setup and payoff.
The creature’s behavior is another glaring issue. Its actions are inconsistent, sometimes killing instantly and other times leaving victims alive for no discernible reason (why Charlie was spared remains an unaddressed mystery). Odd additions like ghostly whispers add confusion rather than atmosphere, feeling disconnected from the rest of the story. The pacing, too, is uneven — slow stretches drag, while action beats are rushed or incoherent. What could have been a tense, character-driven hunt ends up feeling like a disjointed series of poorly connected events.
Rating: 1 out of 5
Production
From a production standpoint, Mortal Game is a case study in how technical shortcomings can sink a film. While the creature effects are practical — something I usually applaud — they’re executed without the finesse needed to inspire awe or terror. The design itself might have been serviceable, but poor lighting, awkward framing, and questionable editing ensure that we rarely see it clearly. Instead, we get repeated shots of the monster just out of frame, blurred, or obscured by trees. This trick can be effective when used sparingly to build suspense; here, it feels like a budget-driven dodge, and it wears thin fast.
Editing is one of the movie’s biggest offenders. Creature attack scenes are cut so erratically that geography and continuity vanish. Instead of heightening tension, the choppy cuts sap energy from what should be the film’s standout moments. Sound design is equally underwhelming — the ghostly whispering effect is mixed awkwardly and never explained, making it more distracting than creepy.
The score itself isn’t bad; it has a few moody, atmospheric cues, but nothing sticks once the credits roll. It feels like a placeholder rather than a thematic backbone. Costume design doesn’t help matters either — the hunters’ gear looks generic and impractical, undermining their supposed expertise. Even the forest setting, which should have been a visual highlight, is shot in such a flat, uninspired way that it loses its sense of scale and mystery.
Finally, the script itself — which falls under production in terms of development — is riddled with holes, clumsy dialogue, and unearned twists. The setup for the guide’s betrayal and the creature’s mythology could have provided a solid spine for the movie, but instead, the writing leaves both threads limp and unresolved.
Rating: 2 out of 5
Performance
The acting in Mortal Game is not outright bad — but it is utterly forgettable. The cast includes Daniella Alexis, Kevin Lloyd Reid, Reece Presley, Madison Caan, and Mark Ettlinger. Alexis (Jessie) delivers her lines with competence, yet she’s given such flimsy material that no amount of skill could make her compelling. Without clear motivation or a coherent arc, her performance feels reactive rather than proactive. Caan (Bailey) fares slightly better in emotional moments, but her character’s poor decision-making repeatedly pulls the audience out of the story. Alex’s portrayal is one of the few bright spots — he feels the most natural, even if his role is underwritten. Reid's performance suffers due to an unnatural stoisism and wooden performance.
Direction is where the performances truly falter. The director, John Lechago, fails to shape the actors’ work into a cohesive tone. Scenes that should bristle with tension instead drift along, and moments meant to be shocking lack the punch needed to leave an impact. Blocking often feels awkward, as though the actors were unsure of their physical space, which only adds to the film’s disjointed feel.
Worse still, the director doesn’t seem to know when to let an emotional beat breathe or when to cut sharply for impact. This results in an odd rhythm where character moments either overstay their welcome or vanish before they land. In the end, while no single actor is embarrassingly bad, none are memorable either — a death sentence for a survival thriller that depends on strong, engaging personalities to pull the audience through.
Rating: 2 out of 5
The Verdict
In the end, Mortal Game had the blueprint for a tense, character-driven creature feature but squandered it through weak writing, sloppy editing, and uninspired direction. With bland characters, underwhelming effects, and some of the most baffling decision-making you’ll see in a survival horror, it fails to generate either scares or investment. While a few moments of practical effects work and one or two decent performances stop it from being a total disaster, the film is still a missed opportunity. Mortal Game gets 2 out of 5.
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