History Film / WouldYouRather

%%* BaldOfEvil: Bevans the butler. BattleButler, more precisely. (Zero-Context: Entry is just a name)
%%* BigBad: Shepard Lambrick, the sadistic mastermind of the game. (Zero-Context: Entry is just a name)

%%* ItRunsInTheFamily: Julian Lambrick is every bit as sociopathic as his father. (Zero-Context: Entry is just "Trope is here")

%%* SadisticChoice: The film's plot is literally this trope. (Zero-COntext: Entry is just "trope is here")

** Raleigh's physician, Dr. Barden, is the one who introduces Iris to Lambrick - despite having misgivings. Eventually he has enough of a change of heart to grab a gun and infiltrate Lambrick's mansion in an attempt to save her. [[spoiler:It doesn’t end well for him, though...]]

* ParentalAbandonment: Iris’s and Raleigh’s parents died before the events of the movie, which is the reason why Iris is the only family left to care for the terminally ill Raleigh. [[spoiler: Which just makes the ending even more devastating.]]

* AllForNothing: [[spoiler: Iris wins, but it doesn’t matter because she goes home to find her brother has killed himself. Also, during the game itself, when it comes down to just Iris and Lucas, Iris wins the coin toss to go first, and the choice is either to kill Lucas and win the game, or spare him and they both walk away empty handed, but alive. So Lucas, [[EyeScream after splitting his own eye with a razor-blade,]] could never have won the game after losing ''a simple coin toss.'']]

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Shep, Bevans, and Julian get to have their fun, and are not seriously inconvenienced by just about anything that occurs in the film. Our 'heroine,' (who by the end of the film has murdered a completely innocent man in cold blood) wins a completely hollow prize because her brother has killed himself, and she is now unable to incriminate the Lambricks in anything because she would have to admit she herself murdered somebody to win the game when she didn't need to. Oh, and the man who sent her there and then had a change of heart and tried to rescue her, (after having won the game himself in the past) is murdered by Bevans without much of a fight. And it's all but certain the Lambricks will do this all again to another group of people.]]

* BreakTheCutie: Iris. [[spoiler:She is put through the psychological torture of watching the other "players" gruesomely suffer, she’s electrocuted, has to beat Travis, wounded in her side by an ice pick by Amy, punched and almost raped by Julian, held underwater for 2 minutes and nearly drowned, watches several people die, remorsefully shoots Lucas dead, and returns home to find her brother dead from suicide. By the end of the story she’s an emotionally crippled woman haunted for the rest of her life knowing she killed Lucas and suffered all of the above completely for nothing.]]
* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler: Poor Travis. He starts out as a creepy Jerkass character with a terrifying stare. But after he stands up to Julian and is punished for it, he crumbles and is reduced to a sobbing mess after receiving several brutal lashes and begging to know what he did to deserve this over an entire round of the game.]]

* DrivenToSuicide: [[spoiler:Raleigh, feeling that his illness has made him a burden on his sister Iris, kills himself, having no clue about the near-literal hell she puts herself through at Lambrick’s for him]].

* KarmaHoudini: [[spoiler: Shep Lambrick gets away with his sadistic "games" and presumably continues to host them.]] While [[spoiler: Julian gets stabbed in the leg, he still largely gets off without any punishment, although it is likely that his father punished him after the game.]]

* BreakTheHaughty: [[spoiler: Poor Travis. He starts out as a creepy Jerkass character with a terrifying stare. But after he stands up to Julian and punished for it, he crumbles and is reduced to a sobbing mess after recieving several brutal lashes and begging to know what he did to deserve this over an entire round of the game.]]

* VillainRespect: Lambrick quickly develops this for Amy due to her ruthless play-through. [[spoiler:Later for Iris as well for winning the game.]]

Unemployed, cash-strapped, and with terminally-ill brother Raleigh in need of a bone marrow transplant, Iris (Snow) accepts a dinner invitation from mysterious rich guy Shephard Lambrick (Combs) to compete for the financial aid they desperately need. It turns out that the titular game forces each participant to choose from one of two increasingly unpleasant choices.

Unemployed, cash-strapped, and with terminally-ill brother Raleigh in need of a bone marrow transplant, Iris (Snow) accepts a dinner invitation from mysterious rich guy Shep Lambrick (Combs) to compete for the financial aid they desperately need. It turns out that the titular game forces each participant to choose from one of two increasingly unpleasant choices.

* EvenBadMenLoveTheirMamas: After Julian tries to rape Iris, Shepherd mentions that ever since his mother died, he "lacks restraint".

* NiceMeanAndInbetween: Despite being huge sadists, the bad guys qualify. Bevans is the most calm and affable one of the trio. Julian is a big {{Jerkass}} towards the contestants and even tries to rape one of them, and Shepherd, though the most evil one, can pull a huge FauxAffablyEvil personality towards the contestants while laughing at their misery.

** ** Amy. She gleefully electrocutes Linda, who's just an old lady, and asks if she can stab Iris anywhere when she was given the chance to stab her, even though Iris did nothing towards her.

* BaldOfEvil: Bevans the butler. BattleButler, more precisely.
* BigBad: Shepard Lambrick, the sadistic mastermind of the game.

* BitchInSheepsClothing: Lambrick at first looks like a suave and affable philantrophist willing to help people who absolutely need money. In truth, he's a sadist and overly evil man who likes to toy with people and relish in their misery.

* BreakTheCutie: Iris. [[spoiler:She is put through the psychological torture of watching the other “players” gruesomely suffer, she’s electrocuted, has to beat Travis, wounded in her side by an ice pick by Amy, punched and almost raped by Julian, held underwater for 2 minutes and nearly drowned, watches several people die, remorsefully shoots Lucas dead, and returns home to find her brother dead from suicide. By the end of the story she’s an emotionally crippeled woman haunted for the rest of her life knowing she killed Lucas and suffered all of the above completely for nothing.]]

* TheDragon: Bevans, Lambrick's butler and the chief of security.

* EveryManHasHisPrice: Invoked almost verbatim by Lambrick at the beginning of the evening.

* EvilLaugh: Lambrick often does this.

* IHaveAFamily: [[spoiler:Invoked by Lucas when he and Iris are the last contestants, and Iris's choice is either they both walk out empty-handed, or she shoots him and wins the game. See PyrrhicVictory[=/=]DownerEnding.]]
** Rather, attempted to invoke, as he barely gets out much [[spoiler:before Iris kills him mid-sentence]].
* ItRunsInTheFamily: Julian Lambrick is every bit as sociopathic as his father.

* KansasCityShuffle: Peter, a gambler, thinks he has outsmarted Lambrick when, given the choice between having your head held underwater for two minutes or chancing what's in a sealed envelope, he explains why the envelope is the safe bet. [[spoiler:In fact, the envelope choice is to have a firecrack explode in your hand. Unfortunately for Peter, the "firecrack" in question is a massive M-80 duct-taped to his hand - most of which he loses in the explosion.]]

* LargeHam: Lambrick. Well, it ''is'' Creator/JeffreyCombs, so it's a given.
* LaserGuidedKarma: [[spoiler: Iris murders Lucas, who helped to save her life earlier, to win the game and the money. She goes home to find her terminally sick brother has committed suicide, making her choice and suffering ''utterly'' pointless.]]

* MyGodWhatHaveIDone: Raleigh's physician, Dr. Barden, is the one who introduces Iris to Lambrick - despite having misgivings. Eventually he has enough of a change of heart to grab a gun and infiltrate Lambrick's mansion in an attempt to save her. [[spoiler:It doesn’t end well for him, though...]]

* MythologyGag: The film is presented by the "Lambrick Foundation."

* SadisticChoice: The film's plot is literally this trope.

** Julian, Lambrick's psychotic and hyperactive son. Of course, while more subtlety than him, Lambrick is also this. ** Amy. She gleefully electrocutes Linda, who's just an old lady, and asks if she can stab Iris anywhere when she was given the chance to stab her, even though Iris did nothing towards her.

* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Iris]], having survived until the end, [[spoiler:is told that a donor has been provided for Raleigh... only for her to return home and find that Raleigh has committed suicide]].
* TheDragon: Bevan, Lambrick's butler and the chief of security.

* AxCrazy: Julian, Lambrick's psychotic and hyperactive son. Of course, while more subtlety than him, Lambrick is also this.
** Amy counts, too. She gleefully electrocutes Linda, who's just an old lady, and asks if she can stab Iris anywhere when she was given the chance to stab her, even though Iris did nothing towards her.

* TheBadGuyWins: [[spoiler: Shep, Bevans, and Julian get to have their fun, and are not seriously inconvenienced by just about anything that occurs in the film. Our 'heroine,' (who by the end of the film has murdered a completely innocent man in cold blood) wins a completely hollow prize because her brother has killed himself, and she is now unable to incriminate the Lambrick's in anything because she would have to admit she herself murdered somebody to win the game when she didn't need to. Oh, and the man who sent her there and then had a change of heart and tried to rescue her, (after having won the game himself in the past) is murdered by Bevans without much of a fight. And it's all but certain the Lambrick's will do this all again to another group of people.]]

A 2012 horror film directed by David Guy Levy, starring Creator/BrittanySnow (who also co-executive produced), Creator/JeffreyCombs, John Heard, Creator/EnverGjokaj, Sasha Grey, and Robin Lord Taylor.

** In addition to the above, Lambrick essentially foreshadows the coming game as he offers Iris ten grand to cast her self-control and beliefs to eat the ribeye and fois gras, then laughs while mocking her for sacrificing her principles for money. Guess what the rest of the movie involves him doing.

* HeadsIWinTailsYouLose: Amy gets this near the end of the film when on her third round, she has to either hold her breath for two minutes in a barrel full of water or, as shown in her envelope, [[spoiler:hold her breath for four minutes in a barrel full of water. She ends up choosing the envelope, unaware that she would have to hold her breath twice as long, and drowns as a result.]]

* LargeHam: Lambrick.

* Mythology Gag: The film is presented by the "Lambrick Foundation."

** Considering the "sick fuck" Lambrick truly is, with the possible exception of the first moment, his humanity moments are either him being FauxAffablyEvil or mention above an {{Hypocrite}}. It's quite unlikely these are genuine moral standards.

* {{Sadist}}: The Lambrick’s and their manservant Bevan relish the suffering of their guests, and it is all but stated they do things like this ''all the time.''

* [[EyeScream/{{Film}} Eye Scream]]: One of Lucas' options is to slice his own eyeball open, as depicted in one of the movie posters. [[spoiler:He does.]]

** JerkWithAHeartOfJerk: While he ''is'' shown to be rather generous with his money, this is never presented in a positive light. When Conway initially tells him that his alcoholism is none of his business, Lambrick contemptuously says that it is his business because Conway is there "begging [him] for money." This in spite of the fact that ''Lambrick invited him and the other guests''. Throughout the film, the audience is never encouraged to see his generosity as anything more than using his wealth to take advantage of vulnerable people for his own amusement, and it's readily apparent that he sees the less fortunate as beneath him.

* [[MythologyGag/{{Film}} Mythology Gag]]: The film is presented by the "Lambrick Foundation."

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil / EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:When the contestants are recaptured after an attempted escape, Lambrick takes a moment to give Iris a heartfelt apology for Julian attempting to rape her in the basement.]]

* RapeIsASpecialKindOfEvil / EvenEvilHasStandards: [[spoiler:When the contestants are recaptured after an attempted escape, Lambrick takes a moment to give Iris a heartfelt apology for Julian attempting to rape her in the basement. This despite the fact he's the one forcing people to do eachother horrible harm until death for his own sadistic pleasure.]]

* InTheBlood: Julian Lambrick is every bit as sociopathic as his father.

* SpoiledBrat: Julian Lambrick often gives the impression of being a snotty child, as he uses his status as Lambrick's son in order to torment the guests that have wronged him. [[spoiler: And he attempts to rape Iris, which is implied to result in the end of his life.]]

* NiceMeanAndInbetween: Despite being huge sadists, the bad guys qualify. Bevans is the most calm and affable one of the trio. Julian is a big {{Jerkass}} towards the contestants and even tries to rape one of them, and Shepherd, though the most evil one, can pull a huge FauxAffablyEvil personality towards the contestants while laughing at their misery.

* AttemptedRape: At one point, Iris tries to escape only to be cornered in the basement and attacked by Lambrick's son Julian. [[spoiler: It is heavily — ''heavily'' — implied that Lambrick has him killed for the act.]]

* TheSociopath: Both of the Lambricks. They see poor people not as people but as toys that they can destroy for their own entertainment, and show absolutely zero remorse for the amount of suffering and death they cause. Julian justifies this by pointing out that they're all effectively begging his family for a handout, so they can attach whatever strings they choose.