Review Roundup: Critics Weigh In On TRUTH OR DARE

Lucy Hale and Tyler Posey invite you to play Truth or Dare. Wanna play? The film hits theaters this month. Directed by Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2), the thriller co-stars Violett Beane, Nolan Gerard Funk, Hayden Szeto and Sophia Taylor Ali. The film was produced by Blumhouse's Jason Blum and executive produced by Wadlow.

Lucy Hale (Pretty Little Liars) and Tyler Posey (Teen Wolf) lead the cast of Blumhouse's Truth or Dare, a supernatural thriller from Blumhouse Productions (Happy Death Day, Get Out, Split).

A harmless game of "Truth or Dare" among friends turns deadly when someone-or something-begins to punish those who tell a lie-or refuse the dare.

Check out what the critics are saying here:

Simran Hans, The Guardian: "Opening, as cliche dictates, with a trip to Mexico during spring break, a group of college friends end up playing truth or dare in an abandoned castle: "Tell the truth or you die. Do the dare or you die. Refuse to play? You die." Both the truths and the dares are tailored to the players, designed to ruin their relationships or to kill them trying, and delivered by familiar faces that contort into evil smiles, looking, as one character puts it, "like a messed up Snapchat filter" (much less scary than it sounds)."

Owen Gleiberman, Variety: "In theory, this could and should result in a highly sensational B-horror film in which an ever more scandalous series of dares and confessions leads to extravagant set pieces like the ones in the "Final Destination" series. An early scene pops with just this sort of bubble-gum dread: After some macho posturing, Ronnie (Sam Lerner), the group's biggest douche, takes a dare to stand on a pool table and show off his "pool cue." But when he chickens out, failing to parade himself with the proper exhibitionism (i.e., full frontal), he then trips and falls to his death in a relatively satisfying fashion. Not a great scene - but, in its way, a promising one."

Randall Colburn, Consequence Of Sound: "It doesn't help that anybody asking "Truth or Dare" does so with an exaggerated Joker's smile that Olivia describes as looking like "a messed-up Snapchat filter." Director Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2) leans on that digitized effect for most of his scares, though like so many modern directors, he's also prone to empty shocks, i.e. adding an ear-shattering sting whenever one character harmlessly surprises another. That said, a scene where a drunk character is dared to walk the length of her roof is tense and multi-layered, hinting that Wadlow might be better off helming action thrillers than horror.

Adam Graham, The Detroit News: "The stranger leads them in a game of Truth or Dare that's more twisted than he leads on. Turns out he's been cursed (classic Mexico, am I right?) and must get others to play a deadly game of Truth or Dare where if you don't follow the game's rules, you die. Not only that, but there's an added supernatural twist that results in THE PLAYER having visions of those around them wearing cartoonish Joker-like smiles on their faces - aptly described by one member of the group as resembling "a messed-up Snapchat filter" - while egging them on in the game."

Dan Jackson, Thrillist: "The dares, on the other hand, do matter! With four co-writers credited on the project, including director Jeff Wadlow (Kick-Ass 2, Never Back Down), you'd hope that the filmmakers would at least be able to cook up some bizarre variations on the old high school standbys. (They mostly involve kissing, public nudity, and petty theft, right? This game is awful!) Read on to find out the truth behind the movie's grisliest (and goofiest) dares."

Germain Lussier, Gizmodo: "But if Truth or Dare manages to live on its own, it'll be a super-cynical, hilariously heavy-handed comment on selfishness, the shallowness of youth, and even the toxicity of internet culture-all lying in wait, hidden in the final few minutes of what is otherwise a bad, by-the-numbers horror flick."

Chris Jancelewicz, Global News: "As with the gore, you will be scared on occasion but it's short-lived. At times, Truth or Dare plays like a teen TV romance, with a love triangle dominating the plotline. Last year's Happy Death Day was more successful with its story; while that movie was just as implausible as a haunted castle/game, it had a lot more fun getting to the climax. There were plenty of laughs and it was a joy to try to figure out exactly what was going on."

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