The first 25 minutes or so do well enough at establishing the leads, the setting, and the bizarrely perturbing situation they find themselves in only to be followed by a bunch of wheel-spinning predictability for most of the last hour. Strange visions, mysterious locals, ominous warnings, and the otherworldly effects of an eerie necklace (among other things) are surely meant to inspire intrigue & frights but, for me, it all fell closer to been there, done that.

Death of Me begins on an island off the coast of Thailand when Christine (Maggie Q) & Neil (Luke Hemsworth) wake up covered in dirt and bruises with no memory of last night. News of an incoming typhoon propels them to get a ferry off the island, but after being refused passage due to their lack of IDs–which went missing last night–they return to their room rental. Neil soon discovers a disturbing video of their forgotten evening which leaves them with more questions than answers. They turn to many for help on the small island–room host Samantha (Alex Essoe), the island doctor (Chatchawan Kamonsakpitak), a local tattoo artist (Kelly B. Jones), etc–before slowly realizing that for them leaving the island is easier said than done…

I very much so like how things begin the morning after with the viewer as in the dark as Christine & Neil. We’re all confused together in regards to what the hell happened with nothing by way of flashbacks, non-linear storytelling, or any other easy out to give the audience a leg up. After some brief wandering to establish the small island backdrop, Death of Me drops video of the unknown evening’s activities on Christine & Neil. What begins as a drunken dinner takes a turn into something much more sinister that certainly makes an impression and I’ll leave it at that. It’s soon after this revelation things start spinning their wheels, unfortunately. 

The big problem for me is up to that point the viewer’s in the exact same boat as Christine & Neil but once the supernatural angle becomes clear they take *much* longer to come around on what’s happening. Too long. I understand it’s easier for a viewer to make certain leaps since we know this is a scary movie and therefore reality isn’t terribly relevant, but being on the same page as Christine & Neil for the first 25/30 minutes only to then leave them in the rearview mirror cripples the experience. In fact, the whole situation of being stranded in a foreign locale as freaky things happen amongst increasingly unhelpful locals telegraphs the grand scheme way too much. It’s 2020 and those movies make up a subgenre all their own so if a filmmaker goes to that well they should mix it up and avoid such typical developments. 

Everything that makes Death of Me interesting or unique can be found in the first half hour, leaving another hour of standard creepy visions or portentous warnings. Maggie Q & Luke Hemsworth sufficiently bring their characters to life but neither is especially memorable (blame the script) and the same goes for the whole cast, really–everyone’s okay across the board. As far as direction, score, cinematography, and various other technical aspects go this is a solid movie so it’s a shame the story lets everything else down a bit.

If you’re more forgiving of predictable developments and have a soft spot for stranger-in-a-strange-land stuff I’m sure you’ll like it more than I did.

6 out of 10 Home Videos From Hell