THE FINAL PARTY (2024)

3 stars

Trinity Content Partners. Digital. Out Now

The film opens with a prisoner in the usual orange garb. Manacled and eating his last meal as he is on death row about to be executed. We later learn this is Adam (Adem Yilmaz).

Cut to the titles – news reports of an incident at a student end of year party – a group of uninvited students stormed the home leading to a massacre. Perpetrators unidentified. The victims had been tortured also.

It’s eight months ago. We have a bunch of students – clearly with plenty of money. Their leader is Andre (Elia Berthoud). On the periphery of the group, observing rather than participating is our ‘killer’ Adam. Of course the group verbally abuse other students – especially the scholarship students, you know the ones with brains.

It is near graduation, and the “nerds”, Michelle (Michelle Deniz Rinehart), Alex (David Christian) and Lee (the end credits don’t list who played who, so no idea who took the role of Lee), decide they will attend a party to celebrate.

Everyone is having a good time at Roy’s house, when Andre and his cronies arrive, complete with their own smoke machine to make them look cool it seems. Things escalate rapidly, with Roy being stabbed and the scholarship students and their friends end up tied up together with their mouths gaffer taped shut.

This then turns into a home invasion movie and a look at how the wealthy elite despise poor people, though writer/director Bilal Kalyoncu doesn’t really have the skills to pull this off effectively. The gang of rich kids try to act sadistically but aren’t very believably portrayed. With very little setup to account for the situation, much of it feels gratuitous with flashbacks trying to somehow rationalise their actions, but this justification feels thin and there is little tension created. Torture, rape and violence ensue – it is noisy and brash with complete lack of any subtlety. This is not an enjoyable watch by any means. Supposedly an American film but judging from the credited crew I am not so sure.

Steve Kirkham