‘Death? There’s an app for that.’
Countdown is a 2019 American horror film about an app that can predict when a person will die.
Written and directed by Justin Dec, the movie stars Elizabeth Lail, Anne Winters, Peter Facinelli and Charlie McDermott. It was produced by Zack Schiller, John Rickard, Sean Anders, and John Morris.
Plot:
A young nurse (Elizabeth Lail) downloads an app that claims to predict exactly when a person is going to die. It tells her she only has three days to live.
With time ticking away and a mysterious figure haunting her, she must find a way to save her life before time runs out…
Release [click links to read more]:
“The whole thing plays like a logline unconvincingly stretched and twisted into an actual movie, as though someone procrastinated on planning for their meeting with a producer and then bullshitted a whole pitch in the 15 minutes beforehand. Forget cheating death. In Countdown, it’s the audience that really gets cheated.” A.V. Club
“Instead of clever kills, we get a ghoul invisibly tossing one guy down stairs and another guy paranormally pulled into the street to be struck by a passing truck. Snore. The demon doing these deeds doesn’t even have a distinct design. He looks like a mud-covered vagrant dressed in rags.” Culture Crypt
“Countdown is a horrific hoot that may not do much for genre fans looking for a bit of a hardened edge to their entertainment. But for those just looking to go on a horror-filled ride for 90 minutes in the theater, Countdown is pretty damn fun and does an excellent job of tapping into technology-driven terrors for the modern age…” Daily Dead
“Even on its own very, very basic terms, there are just too many scenes where characters act with utterly illogical idiocy, especially in the final act. Rather than screaming for them to go the other way, you’ll be urging them to accept fate and die instead.” The Guardian
“Countdown has no such ambitions, unfortunately, and is content to recycle ideas from other, better films. Dec did hire on some strong genre talents for his team, including Alexandre Aja’s regular cinematographer Maxime Alexandre and the special makeup wizards at KNB EFX, but their skills are squandered in this lackluster vehicle.” Rue Morgue
“Viewers looking for a schlocky (but not in the fun way) horror movie filled with jump scares might be satisfied by Countdown, but the scares grow tedious at times and the movie in between scares is downright boring. With plenty of horror movies out for the Halloween season, there’s bound to be something scarier, or at the very least, more entertaining…” Screen Rant
“Countdown moves at a fair clip. But it’s the kind of pacing that feels not exciting but pushy, as if afraid you’ll notice otherwise how flimsy the writing is, and how non-existent the atmospherics. With its bright, flat look, the film feels televisual, with no personality allowed to creep into the competent but generic packaging elements.” Variety
“The same horror devotees satisfied by the prepackaged premise and grace in execution of Happy Death Day will get everything from Countdown that’s there to be gotten. But those in search of more incisive techno-horror that cuts to the core of everything frightening about phone ownership and usage will have to continue waiting.” The Verge
Release:
In the UK and US, Countdown was released theatrically by STX Entertainment on October 25, 2019.
Cast and characters:
Elizabeth Lail … Quinn Harris
Jordan Calloway … Matt Monroe
Talitha Eliana Bateman … Jordan Harris (as Talitha Bateman)
Peter Facinelli … Doctor Sullivan
Dillon Lane … Evan
Tichina Arnold … Nurse Amy
Tom Segura … Derek
Lana McKissack … Rachel
Anne Winters … Courtney
Matt Letscher … Charlie
P. J. Byrne … Father John
Valente Rodriguez … Father David
Louisa Abernathy … Mrs Talbot
Charlie McDermott … Scott
Jonny Berryman … Jeff
Filming locations:
Los Angeles, California
Technical details:
90 minutes
Box Office:
Budget: $6,500,000 (estimated)
USA: $25,621,766
Worldwide: $41,621,766
