Sick Product of a Sick System

A Masterpiece!

It's the kind of movie you'll want to see a second time with someone who hasn't seen it yet, to remember what it was like to watch it for the first time.

The story-telling is good with flashbacks.The film is both funny and heartbreaking. You smile in a scene and get a soulcrushing revelation in the next.

I have to say, as an all around lover of everything nerdy, I had high hopes for this movie. I really did. I am quite sad to say it failed on almost all points. For one, the main characters were one dimensional and shallow. Lyn went from trying to seduce someone, to running away from Erich, to outright fear for her life, then back to enjoyment in the time span of what couldn't have been more than a few hours. Doesn't make sense to me at all, maybe i'm just missing something. For two, the plot itself was poorly created with almost zero development, surprise or even a story line that made sense. Everything was expected. It was not a "Shakespearean Tragedy" as described, as at no point in the film did the protagonist ever move into the accepting fate portion of said writing style. However, there were quite a few redeeming moments, especially the well placed comedic relief. The SCA chapter (Society for Creative Anachronism and NOT LARP) that they found for a lot of this footage was quite good, especially the actual site, weapons, costumes, even some of the game events that just made up the background. I applaud that.However, my third and final point, as a LARP-er (Live Action Role Player), I burst into tears during the last 25 minutes of this movie and almost turned it off. It is very difficult for a movie to get to me, and I understand that this is fictional, but I have so many issues with this movie it's horrifying and would take up pages. As if we geeks didn't have it hard enough, sure go ahead and portray a completely harmless sport that has spent years and years trying to gain a favorable reputation and toss it out the window. Thanks.

I enjoyed playing AD&D when I was in elementary and middle school as a way of escaping and playing fantasy. And so this movie is a little too much. I'm pretty sure what it's trying to say for folk to get back into reality and the world around them despite all it's depressing elements, but although it has some comedy and originality, the movie is inane at it's core. It carries a lot of the same patterns and themes as the German movie "Das Experiment", but it is not as defined and goes over-the-top with some of it's characters within characters. The older brother even by the end of the movie has not learned to come back to reality. Maybe this movie's for those who do role-playing, but for those have never done it, it will have little meaning and be a charade worse than a bad Shakespeare festival.

This movie is well made, with a respectable budget but it does nothing but harm the image of LARPers. The Refs had no control of the game. They made it hard for non-larpers to come in. Oh, and everyone started picking up real weapons and murdering each other. WHAT THE HECK! That doesn't happen at LARP. That would be like hockey players or rugby players breaking out knives and going at it.You LARPers should be ashamed of yourselves for allowing our image to be splattered in blood and gore because you wanted to be famous. This movie was terrible. Thanks for making a Mazes and Monsters for this century.If you want to know about LARPing, go see the movie Role Models. It's a bit silly but the movie does an excellent job of summing up what LARP is about. It's fun. Sometimes people argue. Sometimes people are arrogant but we're all there for a good time.Mark Charke

Forget that this is a "cinematographic debut", forget that it's an "indie film". This movie needs neither apologetic introduction nor patronizing kudos.Most aspects of the film are mastered better than in the majority of mainstream movies, so your eyes, your mind or your heart will find something to latch on from beginning to end.Plot has multiple layers, some easily read and others complex. You can enjoy the film at any level.Cinematography is solid in a Hollywood-action-movie sort of sense. But also gives you some meaningful "artsy" shots which convincingly express the turning points in the plot and in the characters' evolution. They set the mood without being overbearing -- like the "right" frame around a masterly painting.Characters find their depth in the way that each attempts to enjoy, survive, or in some cases take advantage of, the co-existence of inevitably real motivations with the seductiveness of acting, improvisation, role-playing, fantasy...Music obviously helps set the mood and tell the story; but it acts more as a commentary -- as a minstrel would do. In fact I found that the movie has its own carefully crafted rhythm.Costumes and props are top-notch -- forget that it was a low-budget movie. It looked better than most $100M CGI stuff.Dialogs sound "true" from beginning to end.Go see this movie like you would go see any other movie. Enjoy.