Choose or Die

Lore & Background

The film centers on an interactive fiction computer game called CURS>R, which can interfere with reality. The game was created by a man named Beck, who found a curse in different symbols and embedded the codes into the game to gain benefits from the suffering of gamers. The game forces players to make choices that result in real-world harm, such as a waitress eating broken glass and dying, or a mother falling from a window. The plot follows college student Kayla, who discovers the game and attempts to win a $125,000 prize, only to find herself trapped in a cycle of deadly choices. The game eventually orders Kayla to 'beat the boss' at the house of Hal, a previous player who became abusive after the game promised to leave him alone if he made copies of it. Kayla ultimately gains control of the curse and uses it to kill her mother's abusive rent collector, Lance.

Reader's Guide

Choose or Die is notable as Toby Meakins' feature directorial debut and for its cast including Iola Evans, Asa Butterfield, Robert Englund, and Eddie Marsan. The film was acquired by Netflix for worldwide distribution in July 2021, with filming occurring in London and concluding in April 2021. The musical score was composed by Liam Howlett of the Prodigy. Critical reception was largely negative: on Rotten Tomatoes, 30% of 43 critics' reviews were positive, with the consensus calling it 'flickers of frightening promise muffled by an excessively franchise-focused story.' Metacritic assigned a score of 43 out of 100, indicating 'mixed or average' reviews. Critics such as Benjamin Lee of The Guardian and Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave low ratings, while Jude Dry of IndieWire graded it a B+. The film's legacy is as a forgettable horror exercise that failed to capitalize on its intriguing premise of a reality-altering video game.

Did You Know?

• The film was originally titled CURS>R.
• The game in the film is an interactive fiction computer game that can interfere with reality.
• The creator of the game, Beck, embedded a curse into the game using symbols to gain benefits from the suffering of players.

Plot & Narrative Structure

Choose or Die weaves two interconnected storylines around a cursed interactive fiction game called CURS>R. The first follows Hal, a retro video game collector whose dysfunctional household is upended when the game begins manipulating real-world objects, culminating when his wife Laura cuts out their son Gabe's tongue. The second introduces Kayla, a college student working as a cleaner, who finds the game in her friend Isaac's apartment alongside a phone number promising a $125,000 prize. What she expects to be easy money spirals as the game bleeds into reality, killing a waitress who eats broken glass. The curse escapes onto the internet, endangering Kayla's drug-addicted mother Thea. Kayla and Isaac uncover that the game's creator, Beck, embedded curse codes in various symbols to harvest gamers' suffering. After the game kills Isaac, Kayla faces a deadly confrontation with Hal—who never finished the game and made copies to keep it dormant. Kayla drowns Hal, claims the prize, seizes control of the curse to destroy her mother's abuser Lance, and is revealed to work in a building owned by Beck.

Cast & Creative Team

Choose or Die marks the feature directorial debut of Toby Meakins, who helmed the project as a first-time feature director. The ensemble cast pairs Iola Evans and Asa Butterfield as the leads, with Robert Englund and Eddie Marsan joining in supporting roles. The film's musical score was composed by Liam Howlett, a member of the electronic music group The Prodigy—a distinctive choice for a horror thriller that lends the project a unique sonic texture. Howlett's involvement was publicly announced on 30 March 2022, just two weeks before the film's streaming debut on Netflix. The principal casting announcements for Butterfield, Evans, and Marsan were made in June 2021, establishing the core talent lineup early in the production cycle. Evans and Butterfield anchor the dual narrative threads that carry the film's central conflict, while Englund and Marsan provide additional dramatic weight to the ensemble. The combination of a debut director, a recognizable genre veteran, and a pop-culture music figure behind the score gives the production a notably eclectic creative pedigree.

Production & Release

Choose or Die, which carried the working title CURS>R during development, was produced as a British science fiction horror thriller. Principal photography took place in London, with filming wrapping in April 2021. The production secured a significant distribution deal when Netflix acquired worldwide rights to the film in July 2021, ensuring it would reach a global audience through the streaming platform rather than a traditional theatrical release. The film ultimately premiered on Netflix on 15 April 2022, giving it a full year between the end of shooting and its public debut. The decision to release exclusively on a streaming service reflects the broader industry shift toward digital-first distribution for genre films in the early 2020s. The project's timeline—from casting announcements in June 2021 through the score announcement in March 2022 to the April 2022 release—suggests a relatively compressed post-production and marketing window. The original title CURS>R, with its retro-styled formatting, hints at the film's thematic preoccupation with 1980s computing culture, a visual and narrative motif that runs throughout the story.

Critical Reception

Choose or Die met with predominantly negative critical response upon its April 2022 Netflix release. On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds a 30% approval rating based on 43 critic reviews, with an average score of 5.00 out of 10. The site's consensus describes the film as having 'flickers of frightening promise' that are undermined by what reviewers perceived as an overly franchise-oriented narrative. Metacritic assigned a weighted score of 43 out of 100 from 13 critics, categorizing the reception as 'mixed or average.' Individual reviews painted a largely unflattering picture: Benjamin Lee of The Guardian awarded two stars out of five, while Brian Tallerico of RogerEbert.com gave it one and a half stars, noting the film felt like it was 'making itself up as it goes along.' Adam Graham of The Detroit News gave it a 'D,' calling it a cheap exercise forgotten before the credits. Dennis Harvey of Variety questioned how little apparent thought went into the production. On the positive side, Jude Dry of IndieWire awarded a B+, and Ryan Leston of IGN acknowledged solid performances from Butterfield and Evans even while criticizing the material they were given to work with.