Start With A Bang

by Brody Rossiter

The idea of corporate life is terrifying enough as it is. Cringeworthy jargon, strip lighting, rigid dress codes and a shared fridge. However, when a seemingly ordinary day for the eighty employees of Belko Corp. based in Bogotá, Colombia takes a sinister turn, office politics take on a whole new deadly dimension.

Written by James Gunn (Guardians of the Galaxy) and directed by Greg McLean (Wolf Creek) The Belko Experiment is a brutal human study that reveals the rapidity at which the mundane can descend into violent chaos.

After an unknown voice announces that the employees have thirty minutes to kill two of their colleagues, cool heads prevail and the events are passed off as sick prank. Unfortunately, when individuals begin to quite literally lose their heads in explosive fashion, the gruesome scene facing those in attendance triggers a moral and physical struggle for dominance in which only the fittest and most powerful will survive.

Led by COO Barry Norris (Tony Goldwyn), the towering office’s alpha males quickly take control. The only thing standing in their way is the desperate reasoning of Mike Melch (John Gallagher Jr), a mid-level suit romantically caught up with the boss’ assistant. The frustrations of white-collar existence materialise in bloody and barbaric exchanges that prove grimly cathartic for those inflicting them upon their former friends and professional acquaintances.

Uncompromising, darkly comic and packed with unique and engaging characters, the picture is a bloodthirsty social commentary that quickly bares its teeth and ceases to relent. The premise may well be recognisable due to the popularity of pictures such as Battle Royale and The Hunger Games, yet it’s The Belko Experiment‘s ferocity and captivating performances which truly tip it over the edge.