A premise that had all the hard edges softened to inspire the more commercially successful Hunger Games franchise. This is the pure nightmare version. A class of troublesome 15-year-olds are taken to an island by the government where they must kill each other. Only one gets to return to society. The adult supervisor is an emotionless teacher who was stabbed by one of the students. The kids weren’t paying attention when this was set up by the government and now there’s no time to ask questions. The violence is often shocking and can come from anywhere. Meanwhile, the breakdown of trust between classmates adds psychological horror to the mix. A nightmare presented as violent spectacle.
The outlandish premise of government sanctioned murder is also reminiscent of The Purge, but again that was kept to adults taking on adults, and the more it tried to explain the more the whole premise came off as illogical. (Why does murder seem to be the only crime people are interested in?) The governmental motives behind Battle Royale are kept vague enough to leave the viewer to wonder how adults’ fear of the younger generation could lead to such a drastic action. Also, the rules and players suggest a few cheats that make this more about revenge than prevention. After all, who’s being deterred if the teens aren’t even aware such a bloodsport exists?
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