Die in One Day - Improvise or Die (Italy - 2018) is the title of the new film by Eros D'Antona, an Italian director who has previously directed Insane and Haunted.
In Die in One Day, Eros D'Antona unsuccessfully emulates mainstream US films without peering into its creative potential. Devoid of a touch of originality, Improvise or die is revealed as a bad recycling of films such as 31, The Purge but also Hostel and Saw.
In fact, the focus of the story is a deadly game set in an enclosed location where participants, divided into groups of prey and masked hunters, must fight against time while trying to survive 24 hours in order to receive the prize money. The whole thing is led by the "director" and takes place under the eyes of an outside betting audience.
The meager and recycled script (by the same director) is the weak pillar on which the Die in One Day - Improvise or die, a thriller-drama that blurs into the slasher subgenre and in which a personal imprint is lacking. In this sort of wrapper that encapsulates the stereotypes of the genre but does not address them with originality, characters appear and disappear that are so sketchy as to be incisive. Indeed, the masked figures, protagonists of a few worthwhile murders, fail to create tension and ignite interest in the viewer.
An underwhelming cast and painful dubbing also completely drown out the Die in One Day.
Notable among the actors is Kateryna Korchynska (here in the role of Sasha), a young actress who gives an acceptable acting performance that is considerably better than The Wicked Gift.
In conclusion, Eros D'Antona has crafted a film that is unpretentious, lacks suspense, predictable at times and tastes tremendously like something we have already seen. Given his directorial skills, one expects, in the future, a more intimate and personal film.
Plot: After a failed marriage, Richard is searching for his daughter Mindy. The man meets Sasha, an aspiring actress who promises to help him. The girl, in fact, convinces him to participate in a 24-hour theater game that has a rich cash prize at stake. Arriving at the abandoned theater, site of the secret event, the man will realize too late that he has been involved in a bloody show.
In the cast of Die in One Day - Improvise or Die: David White (Beautiful People, My Little Sister), Kateryna Korchynska (The Wicked Gift), Mirko D'Antona (The Wicked Gift), Cinzia Susino (Subject 0: Shattered Memories), Biagio Sampietro, Lisa Marie Picciolo, Dario Grassi and Daniela Ladisi.
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Distributed by CG Entertainment, Die in One Day - Improvise or Die is available on DVD and Blu-ray. The latter edition, which is highly edited, enjoys interior artwork. The audio compartment features the original language (English) and Italian.
BLU-RAY EDITION:
VIDEO: HD 1080 24p 16/9 2.35:1
LENGTH: 78′
AUDIO: Italian Dolby Digital 5.1, Italian DTS HD Master Audio 5.1, Original Dolby Digital 2.0,
Original DTS-HD Master Audio 2.0
SUBTITLES: Italian, Italian for the Deaf.
EXTRA: Bartolini and genre cinema; Trailer
