Cell phones have become determinants on how people run their lives. Almost anything can be done at one’s fingertips. The horror thriller “Countdown” shows the consequences of downloading an app that tells one’s death date.
The film starts at an innocent party where young adults download Countdown, an app that predicts how long someone has to live, to use it as part of a drinking game. Courtney, played by Anne Winters, receives the startling news that she only had three hours left to live. When the party is over, Courtney decides to not go with her boyfriend Evan, played by Dillon Lane, because he is driving while drunk. She then gets a notification saying that the “user agreement” has been broken. Once she gets home, a demonic figure kills her as her timer reaches zero.
At the hospital where Evan is admitted, nurse Quinn Harris, played by Elizabeth Lail, meets Evan in a closed off part of the hospital. He explains what happened to Courtney and how the app says he is due to die at the time of his surgery. Quinn doubts his claims and downloads the app after her coworkers do. The app states she only has three days to live. Later on, Evan skips his surgery and is told by the app that he has broken the user agreement, then is killed by a demonic entity.
The next day, Quinn is told that Evan has died. With rising suspicions, Quinn decides to investigate the app where she then finds out about Courtney’s death. Startled, she goes to a store to buy a new phone in hopes of escaping the demonic presences. It is here where she meets Matt, played by Jordan Calloway. He says how he is experiencing similar events to Quinn and that he has a few less hours to live than Quinn.
The pair decide to find help on how to stop the app. They first consult a priest at the hospital. He then redirects them to a priest named Father John, played by P.J. Byrne. After following Father John’s advice, they discover that the app’s code is encrypted with a demonic spirit. He relates the app’s code to a story in the Bible and tells Quinn and Matt that if they live past the timer by even just one second, they beat the app. Drastic measures are then taken in order to prevent their deaths.
“Countdown” was an average horror movie. The plot was similar to many other scary movie plots; people get haunted by a demonic entity, and they have to figure out how to stop it. The twist on this one is that it involves something everyone can relate to – a phone app. There even exists an app in the real world where it allegedly states when one will die just like from the movie.
Although average, the movie was still scary. It had many jump scares that caught can catch viewers off guard. The demons throughout it were horrifying and left people with an uneasy feeling. This movie was nothing exceptionally new; however, it is very fitting for this time of year.
By Kathy Williams, Staff Writer
williakp18@bonaventure.edu
