Having young kids in horror is always a great idea. There's just something that ramps up the scary factor when kids are involved. But unfortunately, we wouldn't really classify "Martyrs Game" as horrific or even scary. Its more of mystery that has some supernatural elements on the side. Is it a bad film? Not really. But if you want some tinge of thrill in your supernatural thriller then this won't satisfy your fix.
Leah (Kiera Thompson) is only 10 but has felt that her mother Sarah (Denise Gough) has been distant and has an innate hatred towards her. One day, coming home with her sister, she meets a mysterious young girl (Sienna Sayer) around her age who doesn't remember her name. Every night, the young girl visits her with a challenge in which Leah is rewarded with bits of knowledge that seems to reveal details about her mother's past. With a way to finally understand her own mother, Leah plays the game even though she knows that the mysterious girl is not who she says she is or where she's from.
Even with its predictable conclusion, we actually wanted more meat when it came to "Martyrs Game". At the end of the day. we felt that a lot of the characters didn't have time to develop their backstories. There's this sense of cluelessness that we just couldn't shake off. We wished "Martyrs Game" was longer just so it could help us engage more with its characters and its world. It seemed such a waste especially considering the wonderful and engaging performances from its cast specifically Kiera Thompson and Sienna Sayer as the two young girls and Denise Gough as the confused, scarred, and distant mother. These three really gave so much more life in a film that had pacing and writing issues in its first half. The eventual conclusion and the reveal was predictable if were being honest but it also had a lot of heart that we didn't expect.
Rating: 3 reels
Why you should watch it:
- engaging performances from the youngest actors of the cast
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