Hey, did you know some terrible stuff happened in Salem? In the world of the new horror movie All Fun and Games, there’s yet more to the story—some tidbits that got lost over the years. “Here in Salem, they didn’t teach us all our history,” says Billie (Stranger Things’ Natalia Dyer). “Maybe if they had told us everything that happened, my brother would have left that knife where he found it.”
I dunno. I kind of think that leaving murder knives in woodstoves alone is a good idea, regardless of where you live.
At any rate, the knife has words on it, and when young Jo (Benjamin Evan Ainsworth) reads the words aloud, he appears to get possessed by an entity that instructs him to keep a bunch of teenagers at home to play games with it. (I’m using the word “games” somewhat loosely here.) It jumps to other people who say even more words, and thus begins some very fun games—hide and seek, hangman, carving an X into one’s forehead… just your usual weekend fare.
Along with Dyer (who really deserves the lead in a rom-com or something, after spending so much time being terrorized), the movie stars Asa Butterfield (Hugo, Ender’s Game), all grown up and seemingly embracing his dirtbag era; Kolton Stewart (The Expanse); Laurel Marsden (Ms. Marvel); and, apparently, Annabeth Gish and Keith David.
All Fun and Games is directed by Eren Celeboglu and Ari Costa, who wrote the screenplay with J.J. Braider. Anthony and Joe Russo are among the film’s producers; co-director Costa was an associate producer on the brothers’ Captain America: Civil War, Avengers: Infinity War, and Avengers: Endgame.
All Fun and Games is in theaters and on VOD on September 1st.
This post was written during the 2023 WGA and SAG-AFTRA strikes. Without the labor of the writers and actors currently on strike, the film being covered here wouldn’t exist.
