Cheap Thrills by name, cheap thrills by nature – but E.L. Katz’s gleefully dark and terrifically twisted black comedy has brains underneath its brashness. His descent into the depths of human desperation acts not only as an extreme version of dares, but a scathing attack on the American Dream. What would you do for money; to provide for your family; to prove your masculinity; to live the way you feel entitled to?
The premise is simple: two financially troubled old school pals Craig (Pat Healy, Compliance) and Vince (Ethan Embry, TV’s Brotherhood) reunite in a bar, where they also meet filthy rich slimeball Colin (David Koechner, The Office).
Egged on by his trophy wife, Colin sets the old pals a series of challenges and rewards: $200 to slap a stripper’s ass, $300 to punch a bouncer. But as Colin reveals a $250,000 budget, the games turn sicker and more sinister. As the men’s desperation turns to violent competition, Craig and Vince seem willing to inflict as much pain upon each other as themselves.
Shot in low, seedy light in confined settings, the film plays out like an ’80s grindhouse reality show; “y’know, where people have to eat animal dicks or whatever,” remarks Colin. As the men consume much more disturbing fare than kangaroo testes, Cheap Thrills becomes a vicious satire on a culture that enjoys watching ordinary people demean and humiliate themselves for cash.
While Koechner plays the openly sleazy, encouraging ringmaster, it’s Sara Paxton’s numbly emotionless gaze that becomes the most unnerving, due to its familiarity.
A damning, darkly funny and psychologically biting social commentary with the most rewarding final shot in recent memory, Katz proves you can be both cheap and clever.