YMMV / Fantasy Island (2020)

• Alternate Character Interpretation:
  • Considering that we only see Patrick's role in Nick's death through Gwen's second fantasy, did he ever actually know there was anyone else in the building during the fire, or did he just learn about Nick's death in the aftermath and feel guilty because he told himself that he should have done something even though he had no way to know there was anyone to help?
  • Did Sloane simply fantasize about Melanie dying or did she truly want Melanie to end up with the man she was in love with in the hopes that Melanie would be placated and let the rest of them live? If it was the latter, then yeah, that went exactly the way it was supposed to.
• Anvilicious: The mistreatment Sloane initially receives at the hands of Melanie is a warning of how damaging bullying can be and the kind of karma a tormentor could bring upon themselves, but then it's turned on its head all the more as Melanie herself is the one who had everyone brought to the island to be tortured and killed.
• Awesome Music: Ariana Grande's "7 Rings" in the trailer to help emphasize the concept fits all too well. Helps that it's already a fast-paced and catchy song too.
• Catharsis Factor: Melanie being dragged down into the fountain to certain doom. That it's by the very person whom her infatuation for caused the plot adds a layer of karma to it.
• Critic-Proof: It is certainly one of the most reviled Blumhouse releases, with an RT score of 8% and similar audience scorn (specially from those familiar with the source material). Yet it still recouped the $7 million budget many times over, with about $47 million worldwide.
• Fridge Brilliance:
  • The use of "7 Rings" in the trailer seems like a typical case of Soundtrack Dissonance at first, but it makes sense. After all, what better song to use in a trailer for a movie centered around Be Careful What You Wish For than a song about getting everything you want?
  • Melanie acting shocked while no one else is around when she pretends to realize that she's actually torturing Sloane makes sense when you remember that she's recording herself doing so.
• Fridge Horror: The fact that Melanie spent a significant amount of her life holding enough of a grudge against a high school nemesis and several people who unwittingly caused the death of someone she became infatuated with after one date that she tracked them all down to isolate, terrorize, and ultimately murder them all for revenge. It makes you wonder what she would have done had the Fantasy Island not been a thing.
• Harsher in Hindsight: Melanie's torture of Sloane early on when you realize that she knew exactly what she was doing all along.
• Heartwarming Moments:
  • J.D. and Brax's relationship. They're stepbrothers who consider each other real brothers and do everything together.
  • After Brax was disowned for being gay, J.D. let him move in with him and seems confused when someone suggests Brax getting his own place.
  • J.D.'s fantasy was for him and Brax to "have it all": the two of them still living together, but now being rich and living in a mansion with dozens of models.
  • Even when armed gunmen are coming for them, J.D. refuses to consider leaving Brax behind and entering the panic room without him.
  • Crossed with Tear Jerker: Sloane's emotional apology to both her husband and Melanie for how she treated each of them. The latter fakes being moved though.
• Hilarious in Hindsight:
  • Owing to the fact that Lucy Hale's character's wish on the island is to get revenge on a childhood bully, some fans of Pretty Little Liars have joked that the film is about Aria getting revenge on A. Then comes The Reveal that her character is the villain, having brought everyone to the island so she could punish them for their roles in a death that happened long ago, meaning that, in this film, Aria is A.
  • Same with Portia Doubleday, on two counts.
    • First, on Mr. Robot, she played a Nice Girl turned Corrupt Corporate Executive who manipulated her best friend to get revenge for a loved one's death. Here, she portrays a former Alpha Bitch who herself gets manipulated by the villain, who wants revenge for the death of a loved one.
    • Also, Doubleday once again plays a high school bully (former, in this case) whose victim gets revenge on her through supernatural means.
• Just Eat Gilligan: One wonders why Melanie didn’t just use her fantasy to bring Nick back to life rather than target those she blamed for his death. The reason could be because she made the conscious decision to try to have five killed rather than save one.
  • Melanie is outright asked this and replies that it wouldn't be real, and it would also only work as long as she stayed on the island. Killing them would be, however.
• Tainted by the Preview: A number of people were put off by the first trailer, either because it's yet another Darker and Edgier reboot of a classic series or because it looked like a Cliché Storm.
• Tear Jerker: Crossed with Heartwarming: Sloane's My God, What Have I Done? moment where she gives a very heartfelt and remorseful apology to both her husband and Melanie. Even sadder is that Melanie was never actually accepting of the apology and planned on destroying her anyway.
• Unexpected Character: Given that Tattoo has been absent from the franchise ever since the end of the original series, the reveal that Brax is actually this film's take on the character comes as quite a surprise.

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