holy distopian microcosm of teenagers participating in a twisted, government-ordered, popularly sanctioned bloodbath. this story and director do a fantastic job of taking the viewer along on the emotional and mental rollercoaster that the kids are strapped to by way of their electronic collars. there are points where you're definitely gonna want to shut it off, and it'll be because of the obliteration of cinematic boundaries of "decency" that you're used to as an American. the movie itself stands as an attention-holding, thought-provoking examination of social issues, especially those that make complicated shitstorms out of the lives of many young people. it serves it's humor dark and absurd, and even though you get a little pulled out of the drama and chuckle, deep down, the part where the girl shoots-to-kill the boy and the boy tells her to run and save herself and she says "why?" and he says "you're so cute", that's gonna give you back the ability to see the characters as kids, which in turn is going to make it even more clear how scary and fucked up the premise requires this future to be. watch it when you get the urge to rent a slasher, but subsequently realize that you'd like your disbelief to be suspendable and your two hours to mean something (even if it's not precisely clear what).
