Shinderera Gêmu
2016 / 77m - Japan
Thriller
3.0*/5.0*
Cinderella Game poster

Watches

March 15, 2022

3.0*/5.0*

I assume that during some or other brainstorm session, someone went "let's do a Battle Royale with idols" and rather than see it as some broader premise, they simply made exactly that. Cinderella Game is a very straightforward rip-off of Fukasaku's famous film, only with the harsher elements toned down to match the target audience.

A group of young, discarded idols find themselves waking up on a beach. Their agencies enlisted them in some game show to determine who will become the next big thing in showbiz. They are forced to play a card game to determine who will win. If they don't obey the rules of the game, a poisonous necklace kills them on the spot.

It's a familiar premise, so it was smart to keep the film short and punchy. Performances were a little better than expected (but let's be honest, expectations were pretty low to begin with), the cinematography is decent and there are some small variations to the game that make things a tad more interesting. It's not a remarkable film by any means, but I did have quite a bit of fun with it. Solid filler.