‘Countdown’ is a film about a countdown app. The app is a countdown to the person’s inevitable death. The app can not be deleted and their time is unchanging.
The story starts in a very typical party scene - red plastic cups and lots of teenagers. One character starts talking about how she uses a calorie counting app called ‘Countdown to Slim’. Another character wants the app and comes across ‘Countdown’ and the whole group decide to download it. One female is hesitant - foreshadowing the bad events that will happen. They come up with a contest - the person who has the shortest time has to drink all the cups. I think this is a good representation of teenagers and how they have become more focused on appearance. Also, the typical contest that leads to more alcohol is very standard in this type of scene. This could also show the naivety of the characters as they don’t realise there are consequences of their actions.
A short while later, the hesitant female reveals her countdown to have only 3 hours left. Everyone underestimates the app, moves on and urges her to drink the drinks. She leaves the party with her drunk boyfriend and they get into a car. Immediately, the audience assumes they crash, however, she tells him not to and walks instead - fearing for her life. I believe this is done to steer away from audience assumptions and make the content more refreshing. I was disappointed when she begins to get followed a dark figure straight after, but again, the writers avoided this typical scenario by the figure getting into a car.
When she returns home, there are many jump scares. I think they were quite good as a stereotypical scare and the audience can easily predict them. The loud sound effects was more of a shock to the system than the actual content. One example is when she is in the bathroom looking in the mirror. She glances over towards the shower curtain and instantly I could tell where this was going. She reached for them and - as expected - the sound was loud when she pulled them back and caused a slight shock for the audience. Ultimately, her countdown reaches the end and she dies after being pulled up to the ceiling with only the screaming sounds left for the viewers.
Next the story jumps to a hospital. Her boyfriend is there and talked to Quinn - the female protagonist- who is an up and coming nurse. He tells her about the app, she doesn’t believe him until he explains the story of his girlfriend. Her colleagues hear about the app and one instantly goes to download it and sends them all a link. This is where the real story begins. I think the beginning part was necessary to add tension and gain the audience’s understanding of the app.
This film has some parts which I think were unnecessary and wasted time. For example, later on in the story line, Quinn is approached by her male colleague (previous to this scene the audience gets the impression that he likes Quinn). He forces himself upon her and she immediately retaliates. He begins to say she lead him one, but after a quick word from Quinn, he realises he is in the wrong. She leaves and approaches a senior doctor, after he leaves too and sees this. He calls the doctor and the doctor says she says to Quinn that she has to go. I think this scene was successful in alluding to the male twisting the story to the others. However, I believe this has been overdone and wasn’t beneficial to the story at all. Removing this part and adding another element would have improved this plot.
Moreover, this film heavily relied on the use of conventional jump scares to emulate the theme of horror. I think these elements where important to make the film scarier for the viewer. The simple concept of a ‘countdown’ to death doesn’t seem enough to maintain the attention of the audience throughout the film. The makers of the film used jump scares in such a way that it created a tense atmosphere to combat the lack of investment in the slow running plot.
In conclusion, I think this film was standard for a horror film. The conventions used were very typical and this film didn’t stand out to me. The concept is not very unique, it is very obviously catering to the masses as people are becoming more and more invested into phones.
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