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Cheap Thrills

A film of similar plot to Cheap Thrills was also released this year called 13 Sins. Where 13 Sins fails is you can see the screenplay shoehorned into the typical structure, drawing on Blake Snyder’s Save the Cat! cheat beat sheet.

Cheap Thrills does conform to conventional narrative, it is much more organic. Money problems are raining on Pat Healy, when he heads to a bar to drink away the thought of money, he meets up with a good friend he hasn’t seen in years. The festivities begin with them, a friendship that still – even after years apart – is generous. After meeting David Koechner and his wife Sara Paxton, the night begins with dares for money. Small, harmless ones.

As the night progresses, it gets wilder and wilder, turning this into an hilarious, gross-out horror-comedy with a pitch black, pitch perfect ending. Cheap Thrills is not cheap at all, it uses everything in its arsenal to create hilarity and tension in abundance. Exciting, thrilling, touching. Fun with a lasting effect for all the right reasons.