Share or Die – Film Review

A mysterious post circulates throughout social media that promises to kill anybody that doesn’t share it. When a group of young teenagers is sent the post, they are forced to do whatever it takes to solve the mystery behind the post. Who is the original creator of the post? Is it really going to kill them if they don’t share it? They don’t have much time to waste. Life and death are literally on the line.

Where does one even begin to attempt describing just how painfully boring and uneventful Share or Die is? It’s not only both of those things, but it’s also quite unoriginal. There is a movie from 2019 called Countdown which is almost the exact same idea. In Countdown, a group of dumb teenagers downloads an app called “Countdown” that allegedly tells them the exact day and time that they are going to die which is always in three days. In this time frame, these teenagers must come up with a way to beat the app before the timer runs out and they die.

And they definitely don’t want to chance it either. Sure, you could wait until three days come and go but really, that wouldn’t be too wise. And it’s a good thing that the characters in the movie didn’t have this mindset otherwise they would have been dead and the movie would have been significantly shorter. Actually, I kind of wish that happened because Countdown was a horribly executed film.

It’s just such a shame because the concept was kind of amazing and brimming with possibility. Share or Die is kind of similar but not all the way. This idea of a rampant social media post that is causing the deaths of a bunch of young teens just doesn’t have that same sense of tension.

What made Countdown promising was that it sounded like it was going to be an intense journey trying to figure out what breaks the app’s curse. Although the film itself was bad, the concept was super strong. Share or Die‘s idea just feels a bit too generic and overly simple.

This movie is only an hour and sixteen minutes which is absolutely one of its biggest problems. Practically every scene in the film is just a character laying in bed texting on their phone when one of their friends sends them the elusive post which looks like it was thrown together by one of the production members on Photoshop in about five minutes.

Of course, the person that receives this “creepy” post is confused and a little bit freaked out, and usually… they die immediately after. It would have been at least semi-entertaining if we got to watch these characters die in crazy and clever ways, but because this movie’s budget is obviously low, we never really see that happen.

Share or Die doesn’t have the same budget as a Hollywood production so I understand why they couldn’t have these super realistic kills or anything, but it was just disappointing to see how tame and lackluster they really were. The kills here are just way too simplistic for a movie about a crazy, killer social media post.

Joseph Mazzaferro and Joseph Daniel Thomas’s directing also wasn’t a standout. The film feels strikingly bland and non-memorable. There’s no distinct style or flair to Share or Die – it simply feels like one of those movies you made with your friends back in middle or high school for a film project that you had to present in front of your class.

Plus the acting from pretty much everybody on board is incredibly weak too, sadly. They all feel like they didn’t actually want to be a part of this project and only accepted their roles to earn a bit of extra cash. I’m not sure that is what happened, but if it ever was confirmed, then I wouldn’t be surprised one bit.

And don’t even get me started on the annoying sexism that’s on display in this film. The character of Rob is quite annoying and the way that he goes from a disgusting misogynist to somebody we are supposed to care for twenty minutes later is absurd.

While relaxing on the couch one day at home, his wife walks into the room and he straight up yells at her asking why she isn’t in the kitchen making him dinner. “Get in there and make my dinner!”, and “It better be good too” are just two of the cringy things this character says. I’m certain that actor Austin Janowsky is a great guy in real life, but the way his character was written was horrendous. It also just didn’t sit right with me how they instantly redeem his character about twenty minutes later. We are actually supposed to care for this guy even though he clearly says a lot of disgusting things about his wife.

Share or Die also contains an ending that I can wholeheartedly say I have never, ever, seen done before in a film. And not in a good way. The movie actually has a blooper reel that plays before the credits roll. So we can’t actually tell when the film properly ends. We will watch one scene and then the very next one will have the actors cracking up and the director yelling “Cut!”.

Why wasn’t this blooper reel added after the credits? I honestly have no idea but it certainly was one of the most confusing and bizarre inclusions in a film maybe ever. Share or Die sadly doesn’t do anything to prove its worth. It’s an extremely bland horror flick that isn’t clever, original, creepy, or entertaining. It’s practically dead on arrival.