Hailing from Thailand, this pitch black thriller hits the ground running and is sure to please fans with a taste for the twisted. I wasn't sure what to expect, and that turned out to be the correct attitude to have when entering into a viewing contract with this little gem. It is tale of morality and social responsibility that asks the question: just how far will you go?

How much prodding would it take for you to move onto the next challenge, heck, complete the challenge given? 13: Game of Death (13: Beloved in its native language) takes a look inside what makes people tick when money is involved. While it does prove to be successful on its own terms, there was noticeable inspiration drawn from other films.

As I watched 13: Game of Death, I could not help but be reminded of films such as Chan Wook Park's Vengeance Trilogy, 13 Tzameti, Falling Down, and Saw. There were probably even a few others that I have already forgotten. Even with all of those influences informing my viewing, It was still a thrilling experience that had enough of its own twists and turns to keep me guessing until the conclusion.

The center of the action is Chit (Krissada Terrence). He is a sad sack, the proverbial nice guy who always finishes last. On this particular day, he loses out on a big sale to a co-worker, he is having money problems, he was recently dumped, his car is repossessed, and he has lost his job. You have to ask if anything goes right for this guy, but then fate, in the form of a phone call, intervenes. The caller says that it is his lucky day and he could be on his way to 100 million baht ($1 million on the dub track). All he has to do is accept thirteen challenges.

The first two seem easy enough: 1) kill a fly with a rolled up newspaper and 2) eat the dead fly. So, feeling the draw of the promised prize money and the seeming simplicity of the challenges, Chit accepts and is thrown into a game that spirals out of control and ends up challenging his moral code, even his very humanity. At the same time, the audience (us) is challenged; will our voyeuristic tendencies allow us to be entertained by the oncoming depravity?

It would be very easy to give away key plot points, so I am going to have to avoid giving much more of a plot description. This is a film best experienced, best discovered by viewing, not reading a careless or unavoidably detailed plot description. Suffice to say, recognizing other films will not give away where this is heading.