Chance Henry I thought the exact same, even his brother says to him after everything was revealed “you were becoming an asshole”.

The game shows how a rich guy goes to become a more happy person. But where the game shines the brightest to me is its impact. I watch this movie in 90's and even now in 2022 just seeing this movie pop up I still vividly is invested in the plot, reveal and overall story. This movie shock me like not many have done ever since. It rattles your understanding. Of everything. It takes this seemingly super rich person - but him in real life game scenario - but you follow along emotional. First the game seems trivial, as Nicholas sees it too. Then it just evolve into a more harsher, dangerous set. Nicholas brother appear and tell them the game is actually out to kill you. The emotional journey that Nicolas makes along the way is the journey the viewer makes as well. We're attached from knowing Nicholas as we can them reconcile with the character as ourselves. We're stuck in a world of boredom and mundane tasks. The shows that everyone can shake that casket off and become a more "happy" individual. As well, the movie is like a dream-like masterclass of lucid perfection told like a fairytale. The cinematography is outstanding to the core. The flashbacks at start really digs in what kind of person Nicolas and his father was. We also get the picture this is one of richest person in the city.. and this miniscule "game" just takes this VIP person and twists their world entirely. Example. A dressed up clown lying at the same position as his father did when commuting suicide. The graffiti in the house. The TV host suddenly talking to him directly. All seems so endearing stunts. Bringing a billionaire down to normal-human level. Which frankly... I never ever seen after. And the soundtrack. oh my god. It's riddled with ominous tones from a piano.. feeling like something of a Twilight episode. But extremely smart. The other example. They actually showcase a elobrate way to fool someone of their movie. The game trick would probably work in real life too. Which is just beyond brilliant. Fool a rich person they are in a game and then steal their credit cards and bank information. Then send the sucker to a literal graveyard. When that happen in the movie. It's just extraordinary. Following Nicolas is just impossible no to do. We all want to know what will happen. And this is all before KZfaq. Smartphones. The idea of such a 'game' prank only is surpassed by "The Sting" in my book. The game - forever will It be in my memories.

This movies a grounded A Christmas Carol

Bang on, absolutely brilliant film,10/10...

His brother deserves jail for being a monster to him. I have any right to be an asshole if I want

sameee

Because you’re in the game

Are you Ben Rockefeller? Guy from BA?

It’s so good

I re-watch it any chance I get. It’s just so good.

I'm with ya. My brother bought it for me in like 2000 I finally watched it in 2014 and have watched it twice a year ever since

He’s angry, unhappy, and alone.

Douglas is great

It’s funny how the film comments on wanting to re experience it for the first time with those old dudes at the beginning.

@@defrance2728 that's so true because imo the movie can only really work when you watch it for the first time. It was intended by the writers i believe.

@@hoelsaliou8548 I was just trying to point out a hint the movie gives you before the reveal.

@@defrance2728 yeah but by doing so you pointed out something else

@@hoelsaliou8548 I agree

Alexander Fogus Absolutely agree with you. Fincher's isolation of Nicholas allows for the game itself to flow without questions and, as it becomes more sadistic, the audience becomes even more engaged because there isn't an emotional connection to our protagonist. Good insight! Thanks for watching!

Brilliant

​@@MrNerdista I know I'm 5 years late xD but I personnaly don't agree with you, you can empathize with a character, you can like them, but still recognize that they deserved to learn a lesson. At least that's how I see it, I was really invested in his character, and the fact that you quickly understand that he's a traumatized character immediatly creates sympathy towards him and you want to see him becoming better. Plus, until the end of the story, it isn't really a game anymore, you really think that Nicholas is the victim of a scam and that CRS was simply a cover to obtain all his personal datas and the danger seems real.

His brother deserves jail for doing this to him. He has any right to be as douchebag as he wants

susan price wrong..it was secretly about targeted individuals.. look into it then re watch the movie

Contrary. The film is about cathartic liberation.

@@hjhj742 Catharsis is the release of stress, pain, or trauma i.e. repressed emotions. Alienation and repressed trauma fuel catharsis. They're not mutually exclusive to each other. How are you misunderstanding this?

@@yusefendure because you are talking about alienation without liberation. Guess you still didn't work out your trauma, lolz😵‍💫

@@hjhj742 No, you're reasoning is mechanical. You don't get catharsis without pain, so saying the film is not about alienation and repressed trauma but about cathartic liberation is narrow.

​@@yusefendureindeed, and on your own exemple, you don't get catharsis from every trauma😢

He's a little bit of a dick, but it's mostly what the job entails. He's constantly sent to let go people who are doing well for the company financially, but aren't hitting expectations. Always maximizing profits. Never really taking responsibility for what happens (the "waitress" gets fired because he gets short with her, but then doesn't step in to prevent her from being fired over an accident). It's understandable, I agree, many people would act the same way and barely anyone would blame them, but you can still find things to criticize and by the end of the movie he seems to have learned a valuable lesson about appreciating the people around him. Mostly because he thought he killed his brother, not only losing him but losing him because of his own direct actions, thereby forcing him to take responsibility even if he had good reason to feel panicked the way that he did.

This is exactly what I thought. I just watched it and holyyyyyyyy fuck 🤯🤯

His brother at the end says something like “you were becoming a real asshole I had to do something.” I don’t think the movie earned this line. I agree with you that they didn’t set him up to be that much of a jerk. Maybe that’s why this reviewer identified with the loneliness more than the let’s teach this rich prick a lesson.

These comments are indicative of what our society has turned into. Much acceptance and support for dismissive cancel culture and people who lack acceptance of others who don't fit a particularly high status deemed by society's superficial standards. He had absolutely no empathy before the game began..that's pretty much the definition of a world class A-hole in my book. Worst kind of person to be around ever. So the comment in my opinion by Conrad at the end was very well deserved.

It’s for the audience . I agree

Unger deserves jail.

For real, lol.

Zentagon thank you! You definitely should!

Cheers!

Thank you for the kind words, sir. Some days it's my favourite Fincher.

CinemaWizardBoy this movie was about targeted individuals fyi..

I thought I was the only one who was angry and having the adrenaline rush.

yikes, seek help

@@mskcrc shut up

Completely agree here, Brandon. How did Conrad know his brother wouldn't be psychologically scarred for life at the end? I'm not sure I bought Nicholas's Scrooge-esque redemption, which happened to him almost immediately after surviving a suicide attempt.

okay i get being mad but killing everyone then shooting urself is just insane

You're the MVP of this channel, Yolanda!

I noticed the music, too. During the latter half of the film, at least around the time he was in Mexico, even the brightest set pieces are given the most eerie tune in the form of what I believe to be off-tune piano notes. Just a weird press of a key here and there to set your nerves off and make you feel uncomfortable with any scene you're shown. Because you should be. He's being harassed and nearly killed constantly by a company of borderline insane actors, with no idea who to trust and what will happen next. Anyone he speaks to could be in on it and they could be planning something horrible. It was a very good choice to reflect that in the music, not allowing the audience to rest for even a moment, just as Michael Douglas' character can't.

Soundtrack was *masterful* . It's really dark eerie and perfect , In a rich minimalistic way not In an overt typical horror fashion. It really meshes well with the stylishly dark scenery of gloom , loneliness , and wealth. David Lynch always had that abstract darkness style.

I have had this plot of the movie happen to me on lsd always ending in my suicide for release and this was prior to ever even knowing about the movie so I was mind blow how it parallels without even knowing about it.

What the Stars Say by Scholar

Mr Nerdista Thx!

I'm pretty sure it's a company who puts on a show from whomever buys their "act" per say on a specific individual of their choosing. The company does seem evil though and could drive someone crazy

the ending would've been perfect for me if they had ended the movie with nicholas' suicide. so then it would've all been a game, just like they had stated at first but because of the truma, nicholas shot his brother and that's it. the guilt triggered him to committee suicide and the end.

@@bhattasourish Thats what i was thinking as like an alternate ending. imagine his family and friends saw that he had actually killed himself instead of landing in that marked spot

Basically, CRS arrange for Van Orton to be the star of his own thriller. The film has that 'meta' level to it. We are watching a film within a film and the film gives us a few clues to this. CRM shows him a film reel (a film within a film) and we see the kids watching a puppet show in the super 8 opening sequence (ok, it's not a film, but the puppet show is artifice and for entertainment). The movie is great that way, because it's a movie paying homage to the great paranoid thrillers of the 70s by guys like Alan J Pakula, but it also plays with the idea of the artifice of movies. Fincher does this in Fight Club too, but he sraws more attention to it. The Game does a more subtle job of it, but it's still there.

Go for it!

Vanilla Sky Eternal Sunshine Memento

@@silentskies thank you!

Because it’s ridiculous lol. I guess we’re just not supposed to take the movie super seriously. It works as a prank on the audience more than any coherent plot

Thank you! But, as I always say, the community and hub that I've built is enough to make me happy forever!

Here is a theory. The protagonist got robbed and died somewhere in Mexico. The rest (from the part that he gets out of the Mexican grave until the end) was his imagination. ;)

How does one imagine or even think when dead?

Iyad either on the way down or In the brains last functioning minutes

It would have made a more believable ending. I love this film, but I never liked the far-fetched, Hollywood ending. Your ending would have made this film more comparable to 'Brazil' and 'The Trial.'

The whole thing is ridiculous. There are so many contingencies that just happen to fall exactly right -- you can see Fincher and his team squirming, like how the "analyst" says that he was supposed to throw him off the roof. Yeah, okay.

what was the problem he saw in it's final act? if you are able to explain his reasons why...?

I wouldnt call those plot holes just plot conveniences.

PoloBoyPrince that’s exactly what they are which doesn’t take away from the brilliance of the film.

The plot starts strong and ends very badly. 6/10 for me.

I agree, the entirety of the film is set upon a precedent that he would always do something they could predict and they'd always be prepared for him, which is just completely unrealistic. Which is why you have to ignore that and just believe the lie. I enjoyed the film plenty by suspension of disbelief. You really can't otherwise. But that's fine. We do it all the time in movies. It's just a little different here because the fantastical element we're meant to believe isn't that there are spaceships that can turn you into yarn, like Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy, but that there are companies that are so expertly adept at predicting humans that they can pull off an elaborate game like this without a hitch.

@@Lucifronz I have a feeling this was meant to take place in a dystopian world or another time period/future

no

Really? I didn’t hear anything that would suggest that. What do you think he got wrong?

Bet you're fun at parties