’13 Sins’ Is a Devastating Meditation on Greed [The Overlooked Motel]
Welcome to The Overlooked Motel, a place where under-seen and unappreciated media gets its moment in the spotlight. I hope you enjoy your stay here and find the accommodations suitable. Now, please take a seat and make yourself comfortable. I have some misbehaving guests to ‘correct.’
Watch the latest episode:
I took a break from the expected for the previous installment of The Overlooked Motel and shared a television series recommendation instead of a feature film. I’m radically unpredictable, I know. For this edition, I am reining in my wild ways and championing a motion picture as I normally would. Too much deviation from the norm has a very real tendency to overwhelm.
Today’s pick is a Blumhouse-produced effort from the company’s hot streak in the 2010s. Back when the production house seemed more prone to take risks. More specifically, I’m talking about Daniel Stamm’s (The Last Exorcism) 13 Sins. The flick is an English language remake of the Thai horror film 13: Game of Death. Stamm’s reimagining maintains the darkly comedic tone of its predecessor, filling the lead roles with a cast of key players who will surely be familiar to genre film enthusiasts.
What is 13 Sins about?
The picture follows Elliot (played by Mark Weber of Green Room). We catch up with Elliot shortly after he finds out that his fiancé (True Blood’s Rutina Wesley) is pregnant, but shortly before he loses his job and insurance benefits. At that pivotal moment, Elliot fields a call promising a unique opportunity to participate in a ‘game’. The so-called game is a series of escalating challenges that start small and end with a devastating dilemma. Elliot gleefully accepts, only to later question what he has gotten himself into.
I mentioned previously that the film features a cast of characters that genre fans will likely recognize and I was dead serious. In addition to Weber and Wesley, the cast includes Devon Graye (who plays the teenage version of the titular character on the original incarnation of Dexter), Richard Burgi (of Hostel II), Ron Perlman (from Hellboy), the late Tom Bower (of Die Hard 2 fame), and George Coe (from The Stepford Wives (1975)).
Weber stands out from the pack as a relatable, nuanced lead.
The entire cast does a fine job. Rutina Wesley is under-utilized, yet she still makes for a welcome presence during her scenes. Weber is the real star of the show, though. He turns in a nuanced performance that sees him transform from mouse to monster in record time. He’s just as convincing as a meek, timid salesperson as he is playing a much more emboldened version of himself that begins to emerge once the game is afoot.
The other standout from the cast is the late George Coe as the disembodied voice on the other end of the line. His endless enthusiasm is at odds with the menacing nature of what he’s actually saying, suggesting he’s taking sadistic pleasure in ruining lives and causing various forms of malady.
The film pairs black comedy with nonstop brutality.
Coe’s delivery fits well with the picture’s bleak tone. The film juxtaposes moments of pitch-black comedy against various forms of malady. The humor is so dark that it almost feels inappropriate to laugh. There were a couple of times when I chuckled and had to stop myself because I felt like a complete monster. One perfect example is presented in the sequence where the disembodied voice on the other end of the telephone tasks Elliot with making a child cry. This sequence would be horrifying to witness in real life. However, seeing it unfold within the confines of a fictional narrative had me desperately attempting to stifle laughter with little success.
The downbeat narrative and bleak tone underscore the film’s core message about what money (or the want for money) does to people. Greed has the very real potential to turn the well-meaning into monsters. That point is humorously, and not so humorously, illustrated throughout 13 Sins. The film playfully comments on the insular nature of wealth and explores the darkest corners of the human condition with a maniacal zest for mayhem.
The ending is a gut punch.
The picture concludes in a manner befitting to the rest of the film, which is to say that it’s bleak and hard to watch. If you’re invested in the characters, the decidedly unsettling conclusion is likely to leave you distraught. The denouement did a number on me the first time I watched 13 Sins, and even knowing what was coming upon a repeat visit, I still came away with a heavy heart. With that said, I think the conclusion is true to form and further drives home the picture’s message.
As for why 13 Sins remains underseen more than 10 years on from release, that likely has much to do with the lack of promotion from Dimension, the picture’s (now defunct) distributor. The flick premiered at SXSW, which undoubtedly generated some buzz. However, things get a little weird from there. Following SXSW, the flick went straight to VOD. Then, a month after its VOD release, 13 Sins played in a handful of theaters. Not what I’d call a particularly effective release strategy. Although, that’s certainly no reflection on the quality of the film.
On the whole, 13 Sins is a bleak meditation on greed that delivers a relatable lead, a killer cast, a couple of devastating twists, and a hefty serving of pitch-black comedy.
Where can I watch 13 Sins?
If you haven’t yet experienced 13 Sins and would like to do so, you can find this unsettling effort streaming for free (with ads) on Tubi as of the publication of this post. It’s also available on both DVD and Blu-ray. So, if you check the flick out and dig it, I suggest picking up a copy on physical media. I know I probably sound like a broken record by now, but that’s the only way to guarantee the films you enjoy will be available to watch when the mood to do so strikes.
That’s all for this installment of The Overlooked Motel. If you would like to chat more about under-seen and underrated films, feel free to hit me up with your thoughts on Twitter, Threads, or Instagram.
Categorized:Editorials The Overlook Motel
