Based on the eponymous online phenomenon, a ritual conducted in an elevator, in which players attempt to travel to another dimension using a set of rules. A film by Rebekah McKendry, starring Gino Anania, Megan Best, Alec Carlos, Nazariy Demkowicz, Samantha Halas, Madison MacIsaac, Verity Marks, and Liam Stewart-Kanigan.

A group of teenagers, who have been running their YouTube channel ‘Nightmare on Dare Street’ since their high school days, are now pursuing it professionally. The core team consists of the high-energy host Kris Russo (Alec Carlos), co-host and meticulous researcher Chloe Young (Verity Marks), skilled cameraman Matty Davis (Nazariy Demkowicz), tech whiz Izzy Simpson (Madison MacIsaac), and their manager Kevin (Liam Stewart-Kanigan). Their channel thrives on investigating paranormal claims and urban legends, playing scary games in scary places, thrilling their audience with every chilling exposé.

The group’s primary income stems from their sponsorship deal with Something Green, a vegetable drink company. However, their recent episode’s product placement fell short of expectations for their sponsor. And they’re now facing the threat of losing their funding if they can’t deliver another episode with a more prominent and effective placement within a week.

Facing a funding crisis, the group scrambles for ideas. Enter Ryan (Gino Anania), their new intern who shows up today with a seemingly serendipitous suggestion, that they should do the Elevator Game in their next episode. The Elevator Game is a supposed ritual for opening a portal to the world of the dead and summoning a vengeful spirit called the Fifth Floor Woman. Izzy recalls Kris pitching the idea last year, dismissed as tedious elevator riding nobody would want to watch. Kevin, however, sees potential in its simplicity. Ryan further fuels the idea, suggesting a nearby office building where, according to an online article he found, a girl named Becki mysteriously vanished after playing the game.

Pressed by the deadline, Kevin decides to follow Ryan’s suggestion. Due to their time constraint, they have to start shooting it tonight, because the office building would be empty. They quickly arrive at the building by walking from their office.

During the shooting, Izzy faces some difficulty with the interference while Kriss, Chloe, and Matty are playing the game inside the elevator. She loses some chunk of the last part. While nothing much really happens, except for a businessman entering the elevator on the ninth floor. Ryan urges them to play the game once more time. However, Kris simply refuses, followed by the rest of the team.

Frustrated, Ryan reveals that the girl who went missing was in fact his sister Becki Keaton (Megan Best), who Kris used to date. He accuses Kris of being afraid that the game will tie him back to Becki because Kris told her to play the Elevator Game and record it, promising it would make her famous.

Everyone thinks what Kris did was seriously wrong, but they also believe that Becki was probably just heartbroken and ran away on her own. After all, they just proved that the Elevator Game didn’t work. Ryan, however, believes that his sister is trapped in the world of the dead by the Fifth Floor Woman. Driven by this belief, Ryan returns to the building later that night. He attempts to play the game by himself, determined to find his sister. Ryan completes the ritual and he is able to cross into the red world, a mirror of our own except for the sky, which glows a menacing red with a gigantic X mark etched across it.

Inspired by an urban legend believed to have originated in South Korea or Japan in the early 2010s, the Elevator Game has gained widespread notoriety on the internet. Also known as Elevator To Another World, Elevator To Hell, and Elevator Ritual, this chilling game involves a specific set of rules and a singular location: an elevator.

To play, one must be alone in a building with at least ten floors and an elevator that can access all levels. The player must then press the following buttons in this precise order, visiting each floor without exiting the elevator: 4, 2, 6, 2, 10, 5. It is believed that a woman will enter the elevator on the fifth floor, but the player must not look at her or interact with her in any way, as she is not human. Once the elevator door closes, the player must press the button for the first floor. If the ritual has been performed correctly, the elevator, instead of descending, will ascend to the tenth floor. There, its doors will open onto another world.

Apart from the opening scene, where the film features the first victim devoured by an enigmatic figure, nearly 40 minutes pass without much excitement. These stretches are clogged with clichéd dialogue and characters straight out of the horror genre stereotype book. Instead of offering more details about the rules of the game, the portal’s origin, or compelling character backstories to make us invested in their survival, the film squanders time on superfluous dialogue and subpar acting.

When a film’s core concept isn’t fully fleshed out, it needs to rely on captivating storytelling and powerful performances to carry it. Unfortunately, this film doesn’t seem to excel in any particular area. While there are some impactful moments, like Kris’s demise and the Fifth Floor Woman’s unsettling appearances, the overall experience is marred by inconsistencies.

The rules governing the vengeance spirit remain frustratingly ambiguous. While she can seemingly kill without physical contact, she also retreats inexplicably at the sound of a phone ringing. Similarly, her apparent sluggishness in the red world contradicts her swiftness elsewhere. These inconsistencies pull the audience out of the immersive experience, diluting the film’s potential thrills. While the Fifth Floor Woman’s initial distant form evokes terror, the close-up reveals fall flat. Her appearance becomes reminiscent of a Halloween costume, undermining the carefully crafted atmosphere.

The film’s marketing could have been significantly enhanced if the film team had utilized the characters’ TikTok accounts. By posting snippets or short clips about the film’s urban legend, the social media platform could have served as an effective extension of the narrative. It is indeed an odd choice to use real social media platform instead of creating fictional one, especially if they ultimately remained inactive. This suggests that at some point during development, there were plans to incorporate the accounts into the marketing strategy, but those plans ultimately abandoned.

ELEVATOR GAME was released as a Shudder original film on 15 September 2023.