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The Belko Experiment (2017)
| $10,166,820 | ||
| $1,626,122 | ||
| $11,792,942 | ||
| $466,543 | ||
| $547,641 | ||
| $1,014,184 | ||
| $4,137,230 (40.7% of total gross) | |
| 2.46 (domestic box office/biggest weekend) | |
| 86.2% (domestic box office/worldwide) | |
| $5,000,000 (worldwide box office is 2.4 times production budget) | |
| 1,341 opening theaters/1,341 max. theaters, 2.8 weeks average run per theater | |
| $12,218,311 |
Latest Ranking on Cumulative Box Office Lists
| Record | Rank | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| 5,362 | $10,166,820 | |
| 9,546 | $1,626,122 | |
| 7,145 | $11,792,942 | |
| 1,862 | $10,166,820 | |
| 2,170 | $1,626,122 | |
| 2,147 | $11,792,942 |
Watch Now On
| : | , |
| : | |
| : | , |
| : |
Movie Details
| March 17th, 2017 (Wide) by | |
| April 21st, 2017 (Wide) ( ) July 7th, 2017 (Wide) ( ) October 13th, 2017 (Wide) ( ) | |
| June 13th, 2017 by | |
| for strong bloody violence throughout, language including sexual references, and some drug use. (Rating bulletin 2395, 10/14/2015) | |
| 88 minutes | |
| , , , , , , | |
| , , , | |
Domestic Cumulative Box Office Records
| Record | Rank | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 5,362 | $10,166,820 | |
| 5,727 | $12,218,311 | |
| 4,623 | $10,166,820 | |
| 126 | $10,166,820 | |
| 2,723 | $10,166,820 | |
| 4,768 | $10,166,820 | |
| 2,837 | $10,166,820 | |
| 462 | $10,166,820 | |
| 1,862 | $10,166,820 |
Weekend Box Office Performance
| 7 | $4,137,230 | 1,341 | $3,085 | $4,137,230 | 1 | ||
| 10 | $1,878,370 | -55% | 1,341 | $1,401 | $7,648,935 | 2 | |
| 13 | $528,165 | -72% | 453 | $1,166 | $8,990,355 | 3 | |
| 20 | $204,305 | -61% | 186 | $1,098 | $9,426,895 | 4 | |
| 35 | $71,870 | -65% | 88 | $817 | $9,584,765 | 5 | |
| 43 | $31,740 | -56% | 47 | $675 | $9,644,485 | 6 | |
| 40 | $44,145 | +39% | 83 | $532 | $9,697,090 | 7 | |
| 45 | $26,250 | -41% | 69 | $380 | $9,742,140 | 8 | |
| 28 | $186,740 | +611% | 74 | $2,524 | $9,941,215 | 9 | |
| - | $7,070 | -96% | 18 | $393 | $10,164,675 | 10 |
Daily Box Office Performance
| P | $306,000 | 0 | $306,000 | |||||
| 6 | $1,518,000 | 1,341 | $1,132 | $1,518,000 | 1 | |||
| 7 | $1,576,890 | +4% | 1,341 | $1,176 | $3,094,890 | 2 | ||
| 7 | $1,042,340 | -34% | 1,341 | $777 | $4,137,230 | 3 | ||
| 6 | $381,900 | -63% | 1,341 | $285 | $4,519,130 | 4 | ||
| 6 | $603,930 | +58% | 1,341 | $450 | $5,123,060 | 5 | ||
| 7 | $347,935 | -42% | 1,341 | $259 | $5,470,995 | 6 | ||
| 7 | $299,570 | -14% | 1,341 | $223 | $5,770,565 | 7 | ||
| 9 | $552,495 | +84% | -64% | 1,341 | $412 | $6,323,060 | 8 | |
| 10 | $785,975 | +42% | -50% | 1,341 | $586 | $7,109,035 | 9 | |
| 11 | $539,900 | -31% | -48% | 1,341 | $403 | $7,648,935 | 10 | |
| 10 | $204,740 | -62% | -46% | 1,341 | $153 | $7,853,675 | 11 | |
| 10 | $279,015 | +36% | -54% | 1,341 | $208 | $8,132,690 | 12 | |
| 10 | $192,655 | -31% | -45% | 1,341 | $144 | $8,325,345 | 13 | |
| 10 | $136,845 | -29% | -54% | 1,341 | $102 | $8,462,190 | 14 | |
| 13 | $165,655 | +21% | -70% | 453 | $366 | $8,627,845 | 15 | |
| 13 | $233,345 | +41% | -70% | 453 | $515 | $8,861,190 | 16 | |
| 13 | $129,165 | -45% | -76% | 453 | $285 | $8,990,355 | 17 | |
| 13 | $59,770 | -54% | -71% | 453 | $132 | $9,050,125 | 18 | |
| 13 | $76,025 | +27% | -73% | 453 | $168 | $9,126,150 | 19 | |
| 14 | $51,870 | -32% | -73% | 453 | $115 | $9,178,020 | 20 | |
| 15 | $44,570 | -14% | -67% | 453 | $98 | $9,222,590 | 21 | |
| - | $61,130 | +37% | -63% | 186 | $329 | $9,283,720 | 22 | |
| - | $87,805 | +44% | -62% | 186 | $472 | $9,371,525 | 23 | |
| - | $55,370 | -37% | -57% | 186 | $298 | $9,426,895 | 24 | |
| - | $24,955 | -55% | -58% | 186 | $134 | $9,451,850 | 25 | |
| - | $27,815 | +11% | -63% | 186 | $150 | $9,479,665 | 26 | |
| - | $18,215 | -35% | -65% | 186 | $98 | $9,497,880 | 27 | |
| - | $15,015 | -18% | -66% | 186 | $81 | $9,512,895 | 28 | |
| - | $25,340 | +69% | -59% | 88 | $288 | $9,538,235 | 29 | |
| - | $30,315 | +20% | -65% | 88 | $344 | $9,568,550 | 30 | |
| - | $16,215 | -47% | -71% | 88 | $184 | $9,584,765 | 31 | |
| - | $8,145 | -50% | -67% | 88 | $93 | $9,592,910 | 32 | |
| - | $7,290 | -10% | -74% | 88 | $83 | $9,600,200 | 33 | |
| - | $7,550 | +4% | -59% | 88 | $86 | $9,607,750 | 34 | |
| - | $4,995 | -34% | -67% | 88 | $57 | $9,612,745 | 35 | |
| - | $9,585 | +92% | -62% | 47 | $204 | $9,622,330 | 36 | |
| - | $15,135 | +58% | -50% | 47 | $322 | $9,637,465 | 37 | |
| - | $7,020 | -54% | -57% | 47 | $149 | $9,644,485 | 38 | |
| - | $2,495 | -64% | -69% | 47 | $53 | $9,646,980 | 39 | |
| - | $2,120 | -15% | -71% | 47 | $45 | $9,649,100 | 40 | |
| - | $2,105 | -1% | -72% | 47 | $45 | $9,651,205 | 41 | |
| - | $1,740 | -17% | -65% | 47 | $37 | $9,652,945 | 42 | |
| - | $12,710 | +630% | +33% | 83 | $153 | $9,665,655 | 43 | |
| - | $18,930 | +49% | +25% | 83 | $228 | $9,684,585 | 44 | |
| - | $12,505 | -34% | +78% | 83 | $151 | $9,697,090 | 45 | |
| - | $4,825 | -61% | +93% | 83 | $58 | $9,701,915 | 46 | |
| - | $5,110 | +6% | +141% | 83 | $62 | $9,707,025 | 47 | |
| - | $4,425 | -13% | +110% | 83 | $53 | $9,711,450 | 48 | |
| - | $4,440 | n/c | +155% | 83 | $53 | $9,715,890 | 49 | |
| - | $6,585 | +48% | -48% | 69 | $95 | $9,722,475 | 50 | |
| - | $11,375 | +73% | -40% | 69 | $165 | $9,733,850 | 51 | |
| - | $8,290 | -27% | -34% | 69 | $120 | $9,742,140 | 52 | |
| - | $3,080 | -63% | -36% | 69 | $45 | $9,745,220 | 53 | |
| - | $3,075 | n/c | -40% | 69 | $45 | $9,748,295 | 54 | |
| - | $2,760 | -10% | -38% | 69 | $40 | $9,751,055 | 55 | |
| - | $3,420 | +24% | -23% | 69 | $50 | $9,754,475 | 56 | |
| - | $61,530 | +1,699% | +834% | 74 | $831 | $9,816,005 | 57 | |
| - | $66,270 | +8% | +483% | 74 | $896 | $9,882,275 | 58 | |
| - | $58,940 | -11% | +611% | 74 | $796 | $9,941,215 | 59 | |
| - | $51,200 | -13% | +1,562% | 74 | $692 | $9,992,415 | 60 | |
| - | $58,625 | +15% | +1,807% | 74 | $792 | $10,051,040 | 61 | |
| - | $52,650 | -10% | +1,808% | 74 | $711 | $10,103,690 | 62 | |
| 15 | $53,915 | +2% | +1,476% | 74 | $729 | $10,157,605 | 63 | |
| - | $785 | -99% | -99% | 18 | $44 | $10,158,390 | 64 | |
| - | $4,085 | +420% | -94% | 18 | $227 | $10,162,475 | 65 | |
| - | $2,200 | -46% | -96% | 18 | $122 | $10,164,675 | 66 | |
| - | $575 | -74% | -99% | 18 | $32 | $10,165,250 | 67 | |
| - | $525 | -9% | -99% | 18 | $29 | $10,165,775 | 68 | |
| - | $475 | -10% | -99% | 18 | $26 | $10,166,250 | 69 | |
| - | $570 | +20% | -99% | 18 | $32 | $10,166,820 | 70 |
Weekly Box Office Performance
| 7 | $5,770,565 | 1,341 | $4,303 | $5,770,565 | 1 | ||
| 10 | $2,691,625 | -53% | 1,341 | $2,007 | $8,462,190 | 2 | |
| 13 | $760,400 | -72% | 453 | $1,679 | $9,222,590 | 3 | |
| 20 | $290,305 | -62% | 186 | $1,561 | $9,512,895 | 4 | |
| 36 | $99,850 | -66% | 88 | $1,135 | $9,612,745 | 5 | |
| 44 | $40,200 | -60% | 47 | $855 | $9,652,945 | 6 | |
| 41 | $62,945 | +57% | 83 | $758 | $9,715,890 | 7 | |
| 46 | $38,585 | -39% | 69 | $559 | $9,754,475 | 8 | |
| 22 | $403,130 | +945% | 74 | $5,448 | $10,157,605 | 9 | |
| 62 | $9,215 | -98% | 18 | $512 | $10,166,820 | 10 |
- International
Box Office Summary Per Territory
| Territory | Release Date | --> --> Opening Weekend | Opening Weekend Screens | Maximum Screens | Theatrical Engagements | Total Box Office | Report Date |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 10/13/2017 | $6,128 | 12 | 12 | 17 | $9,265 | 10/23/2017 | |
| 7/7/2017 | $227,244 | 367 | 367 | 673 | $461,651 | 1/1/2019 | |
| 4/21/2017 | $166,103 | 132 | 132 | 132 | $166,103 | 4/26/2017 | |
| $989,103 | |||||||
| 1/1/2019 | |||||||
International Cumulative Box Office Records
| Record | Rank | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 9,546 | $1,626,122 | |
| 8,549 | $1,626,122 | |
| 5,216 | $1,626,122 | |
| 7,951 | $1,626,122 | |
| 5,000 | $1,626,122 | |
| 528 | $1,626,122 | |
| 2,170 | $1,626,122 |
Worldwide Cumulative Box Office Records
| Record | Rank | Revenue |
|---|---|---|
| 7,145 | $11,792,942 | |
| 6,207 | $11,792,942 | |
| 279 | $11,792,942 | |
| 3,735 | $11,792,942 | |
| 6,212 | $11,792,942 | |
| 3,799 | $11,792,942 | |
| 492 | $11,792,942 | |
| 2,147 | $11,792,942 |
- Video Sales
Weekly US DVD Sales
| Date | Rank | Units | % Change | Total | Spending | Total | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 17 | 9,214 | 9,214 | $137,841 | $137,841 | 3 |
Weekly US Blu-ray Sales
| Date | Rank | Units | % Change | Total | Spending | Total | Weeks |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 14 | 9,594 | 9,594 | $191,497 | $191,497 | 3 |
- Full Financials
- Cast & Crew
Leading Cast
| Mike Pelk |
Supporting Cast
| Barry Norris | ||
| Leandra Jerez | ||
| Wendell Dukes | ||
| Keith McLure | ||
| Bud Melks | ||
| Dany Wilkins | ||
| Roberto Jerez | ||
| Brian Vargas | ||
| Peggy Displasia | ||
| Terry Winters | ||
| Marty Espenscheid | ||
| Chet Valincourt | ||
| Alonso “Lonny” Crane | ||
| Leota Hynek | ||
| Ross Reynolds | ||
| Robert Hickland | ||
| Antonio Fowler | ||
| Evan Smith | ||
| Vince Agostino | ||
| Raziya Memarian | ||
| Hostage |
| Salesman |
Production and Technical Credits
| Director | ||
| Screenwriter | ||
| Producer | ||
| Producer | ||
| Co-Producer | ||
| Executive Producer | ||
| Director of Photography | ||
| Production Designer | ||
| Editor | ||
| Composer | ||
| Costume Designer |
Home Market Releases for June 27th, 2017
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Weekend Estimates: Beauty and the Beast Sets New March Record
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Friday Estimates: Beast Knocks Out Kong with $63.79 million
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Thursday Night Previews: Beast’s Start is a Beauty, with $16.3 million in Previews
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Weekend Predictions: Will Beauty have a Beastly Opening?
Contest: beauty and the best.
March 9th, 2017
-1-News.jpg "the belko experiment gross")
2017 Preview: March
March 1st, 2017
The Belko Experiment Trailer
January 26th, 2017
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The belko experiment (2016).
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- Play Trailer
Just another day at the office.
A group of eighty American workers are locked in their office and ordered by an unknown voice to participate in a twisted game.
Greg McLean
Top Billed Cast
John Gallagher Jr.
Tony Goldwyn
Barry Norris
Adria Arjona
Leandra Flores
John C. McGinley
Wendell Dukes
Melonie Diaz
Dany Wilkins
Michael Rooker
Josh Brener
Keith McLure
Owain Yeoman
Terry Winters
Marty Espenscheid
Full Cast & Crew
- Discussions 10
A review by Gimly
Written by gimly on june 21, 2017.
Our latest " Battle Royale in an (x) " on offer is the James Gunn/Greg McLean Project, The Belko Experiment . To some, wading through the splatter of ultraviolence to try and get the smatter of social commentary may be tedious, but personally, I love both aspects, so I'm on board.
Final rating:★★★ - I personally recommend you give it a go.
Read All Reviews
- Most Popular
Status Released
Original Language English
Budget $5,000,000.00
Revenue $10,166,820.00
- dark comedy
- security guard
- deadly game
Content Score
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Top Contributors
44 gonegirl
29 ThorsDay
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The Belko Experiment
In a twisted social experiment, eighty Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company's intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed.
| DOW | Daily | %± YD | %± LW | Day | Estimated | |||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | $1,518,000 | - | - | 1,341 | $1,131 | $1,518,000 | 1 | false | ||
| 7 | $1,576,890 | +3.9% | - | 1,341 | $1,175 | $3,094,890 | 2 | false | ||
| 7 | $1,042,340 | -33.9% | - | 1,341 | $777 | $4,137,230 | 3 | false | ||
| 6 | $381,900 | -63.4% | - | 1,341 | $284 | $4,519,130 | 4 | false | ||
| 6 | $603,930 | +58.1% | - | 1,341 | $450 | $5,123,060 | 5 | false | ||
| 7 | $347,935 | -42.4% | - | 1,341 | $259 | $5,470,995 | 6 | false | ||
| 7 | $299,570 | -13.9% | - | 1,341 | $223 | $5,770,565 | 7 | false | ||
| 9 | $552,495 | +84.4% | -63.6% | 1,341 | $412 | $6,323,060 | 8 | false | ||
| 10 | $785,975 | +42.3% | -50.2% | 1,341 | $586 | $7,109,035 | 9 | false | ||
| 11 | $539,900 | -31.3% | -48.2% | 1,341 | $402 | $7,648,935 | 10 | false | ||
| 10 | $204,740 | -62.1% | -46.4% | 1,341 | $152 | $7,853,675 | 11 | false | ||
| 10 | $279,015 | +36.3% | -53.8% | 1,341 | $208 | $8,132,690 | 12 | false | ||
| 10 | $192,655 | -31% | -44.6% | 1,341 | $143 | $8,325,345 | 13 | false | ||
| 10 | $136,845 | -29% | -54.3% | 1,341 | $102 | $8,462,190 | 14 | false | ||
| 13 | $165,655 | +21.1% | -70% | 453 | $365 | $8,627,845 | 15 | false | ||
| 13 | $233,345 | +40.9% | -70.3% | 453 | $515 | $8,861,190 | 16 | false | ||
| 13 | $129,165 | -44.6% | -76.1% | 453 | $285 | $8,990,355 | 17 | false | ||
| 13 | $59,770 | -53.7% | -70.8% | 453 | $131 | $9,050,125 | 18 | false | ||
| 13 | $76,025 | +27.2% | -72.8% | 453 | $167 | $9,126,150 | 19 | false | ||
| 14 | $51,870 | -31.8% | -73.1% | 453 | $114 | $9,178,020 | 20 | false | ||
| 15 | $44,570 | -14.1% | -67.4% | 453 | $98 | $9,222,590 | 21 | false | ||
| 20 | $61,130 | +37.2% | -63.1% | 186 | $328 | $9,283,720 | 22 | false | ||
| 20 | $87,805 | +43.6% | -62.4% | 186 | $472 | $9,371,525 | 23 | false | ||
| 21 | $55,370 | -36.9% | -57.1% | 186 | $297 | $9,426,895 | 24 | false | ||
| 21 | $24,955 | -54.9% | -58.2% | 186 | $134 | $9,451,850 | 25 | false | ||
| 20 | $27,815 | +11.5% | -63.4% | 186 | $149 | $9,479,665 | 26 | false | ||
| 22 | $18,215 | -34.5% | -64.9% | 186 | $97 | $9,497,880 | 27 | false | ||
| 24 | $15,015 | -17.6% | -66.3% | 186 | $80 | $9,512,895 | 28 | false | ||
| 32 | $25,340 | +68.8% | -58.5% | 88 | $287 | $9,538,235 | 29 | false | ||
| 31 | $30,315 | +19.6% | -65.5% | 88 | $344 | $9,568,550 | 30 | false | ||
| 31 | $16,215 | -46.5% | -70.7% | 88 | $184 | $9,584,765 | 31 | false | ||
| 30 | $8,145 | -49.8% | -67.4% | 88 | $92 | $9,592,910 | 32 | false | ||
| 31 | $7,290 | -10.5% | -73.8% | 88 | $82 | $9,600,200 | 33 | false | ||
| 31 | $7,550 | +3.6% | -58.6% | 88 | $85 | $9,607,750 | 34 | false | ||
| 33 | $4,995 | -33.8% | -66.7% | 88 | $56 | $9,612,745 | 35 | false | ||
| 36 | $9,585 | +91.9% | -62.2% | 47 | $203 | $9,622,330 | 36 | false | ||
| 36 | $15,135 | +57.9% | -50.1% | 47 | $322 | $9,637,465 | 37 | false | ||
| 38 | $7,020 | -53.6% | -56.7% | 47 | $149 | $9,644,485 | 38 | false | ||
| 36 | $2,495 | -64.5% | -69.4% | 47 | $53 | $9,646,980 | 39 | false | ||
| 42 | $2,120 | -15% | -70.9% | 47 | $45 | $9,649,100 | 40 | false | ||
| 37 | $2,105 | -0.7% | -72.1% | 47 | $44 | $9,651,205 | 41 | false | ||
| 39 | $1,740 | -17.3% | -65.2% | 47 | $37 | $9,652,945 | 42 | false | ||
| 35 | $12,710 | +630.5% | +32.6% | 83 | $153 | $9,665,655 | 43 | false | ||
| 36 | $18,930 | +48.9% | +25.1% | 83 | $228 | $9,684,585 | 44 | false | ||
| 35 | $12,505 | -33.9% | +78.1% | 83 | $150 | $9,697,090 | 45 | false | ||
| 36 | $4,825 | -61.4% | +93.4% | 83 | $58 | $9,701,915 | 46 | false | ||
| 37 | $5,110 | +5.9% | +141% | 83 | $61 | $9,707,025 | 47 | false | ||
| 38 | $4,425 | -13.4% | +110.2% | 83 | $53 | $9,711,450 | 48 | false | ||
| 37 | $4,440 | +0.3% | +155.2% | 83 | $53 | $9,715,890 | 49 | false | ||
| 38 | $6,585 | +48.3% | -48.2% | 69 | $95 | $9,722,475 | 50 | false | ||
| 38 | $11,375 | +72.7% | -39.9% | 69 | $164 | $9,733,850 | 51 | false | ||
| 38 | $8,290 | -27.1% | -33.7% | 69 | $120 | $9,742,140 | 52 | false | ||
| 38 | $3,080 | -62.8% | -36.2% | 69 | $44 | $9,745,220 | 53 | false | ||
| 42 | $3,075 | -0.2% | -39.8% | 69 | $44 | $9,748,295 | 54 | false | ||
| 38 | $2,760 | -10.2% | -37.6% | 69 | $40 | $9,751,055 | 55 | false | ||
| 38 | $3,420 | +23.9% | -23% | 69 | $49 | $9,754,475 | 56 | false | ||
| 23 | $61,530 | +1,699.1% | +834.4% | 74 | $831 | $9,816,005 | 57 | false | ||
| 27 | $66,270 | +7.7% | +482.6% | 74 | $895 | $9,882,275 | 58 | false | ||
| 26 | $58,940 | -11.1% | +611% | 74 | $796 | $9,941,215 | 59 | false | ||
| 17 | $51,200 | -13.1% | +1,562.3% | 74 | $691 | $9,992,415 | 60 | false | ||
| 18 | $58,625 | +14.5% | +1,806.5% | 74 | $792 | $10,051,040 | 61 | false | ||
| 17 | $52,650 | -10.2% | +1,807.6% | 74 | $711 | $10,103,690 | 62 | false | ||
| 16 | $53,915 | +2.4% | +1,476.5% | 74 | $728 | $10,157,605 | 63 | false | ||
| 49 | $785 | -98.5% | -98.7% | 18 | $43 | $10,158,390 | 64 | false | ||
| 44 | $4,085 | +420.4% | -93.8% | 18 | $226 | $10,162,475 | 65 | false | ||
| 44 | $2,200 | -46.1% | -96.3% | 18 | $122 | $10,164,675 | 66 | false | ||
| 48 | $575 | -73.9% | -98.9% | 18 | $31 | $10,165,250 | 67 | false | ||
| 49 | $525 | -8.7% | -99.1% | 18 | $29 | $10,165,775 | 68 | false | ||
| 47 | $475 | -9.5% | -99.1% | 18 | $26 | $10,166,250 | 69 | false | ||
| 48 | $570 | +20% | -98.9% | 18 | $31 | $10,166,820 | 70 | false |
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The Belko Experiment Review
A typical day at the office takes an unfortunate turn..
The Belko Experiment boasts an impressive lineup of both new and veteran character actors, most of whom turn in respectable work here, yet are squandered in irritatingly one-note characters. The dedication to their roles is one of the only bright spots in what ends up being a truly loathsome exercise in unnecessary violence.
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The Belko Experiment (2016)
Directed by greg mclean.
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The Belko Experiment is a 2016 American action psychological horror film directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn, who also produced the film with Peter Safran. It stars John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley, Melonie Diaz, Josh Brener, and Michael Rooker. The film follows eighty foreigners working abroad for a company named Belko Industries in Bogotá, Colombia. One day, after they arrive at work, they are locked inside the building, and a mysterious voice announces that if the employees do not start killing each other, they will be killed themselves.
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The Belko Experiment
The Belko Experiment
You don’t need to squint very hard to see the satirical elements that might have elevated blood-soaked horror flick “The Belko Experiment” to greatness. The premise—a group of employees are forced to kill each other at the whims of an anonymous employer—is promising. But the script, penned by James Gunn (“ Guardians of the Galaxy ,” “Slither”), is undercooked, its violence foregrounded to the point of distraction. Many people will either love or hate this film based on how gory and aggressively cynical it is. But realistically, Gunn’s biggest conceptual failure is that his scenario is thoughtlessly cruel. The characters could have embodied traits of typical office drones and managers, turning the film into a savage black comedy. But those elements aren’t developed beyond a point, making the movie’s only selling point its excessive gore and violence.
You’ll notice, from the start, how easy it is to either identify with or dismiss characters in “The Belko Experiment” based on how they respond to the stress of being told to kill their fellow employees. Never mind that stress makes people do crazy things: we’re supposed to sympathize with by-the-book employee Mike (John Gallagher Jr.) because he’s a moderate voice of reason compared to self-appointed megalomaniac Barry ( Tony Goldwyn ). Mike is the kind of guy who encourages his fellow employees to take the stairs, not the elevators while Barry is the kind of guy who says that the group should “consider our options” and think about cooperating with the mysterious uber-boss who’s compelling them to kill each other. Both characters clash sooner rather than later because each employee has a GPS micro-chip implanted in their heads—they are working in Bogota, where kidnappings are supposedly not uncommon—which is ultimately used as an explosive to pick off disobedient employees.
Secondary characters either voice their disapproval or support of Barry and Mike’s respective positions: Mike insists that nobody has “the right to choose who lives and who dies” while Barry suggests that they have no choice. You may, at some point, wonder if Barry has a point. But that moment will pass when you see the other guys he’s allied himself with, people like jittery, trigger-happy Lonny ( David Dastmalchian ) and sexual-harassment-happy Wendell ( John C. McGinley ). There’s no way to take the utilitarian position in this film because these guys are defined exclusively by personality-revealing bad behavior.
Conversely, there’s no way to relate to Mike because he’s such a generic goody-goody. What kind of guy warns people to take the stairs and not the elevators during such an emergency? That’s a half-serious question: I do not know anything about Mike beyond the fact that he handles stress well, talks other employees down from stress, and is a rational thinker given how much of the film’s early expository speculation comes from him (he’s a bit chatty at the start, but necessarily so since he’s essentially the lone voice of reason). There’s no way to tell what he was like before the Belko bosses starting killing their employees off, nor any way to know why we should sympathize with the character beyond the fact that he’s part of the solution and not the problem.
Then again, the lack of motivation could have also been a source of great comedy. Belko could be an office like any other: a place where bosses and fellow employees act kind and genial one minute but have the potential to transform into domineering thugs as soon as they fear they’re going to be thrown under the bus. That’s who Lonny, the most sympathetic of Gunn’s baddies, seems to be. But he’s annoyingly knock-kneed, and ineffectual, making him instantly unlikable. McGinley’s character is defined by his insincere toothy grin, and proud tendency of showing off his muscles, making his narcissism all too apparent. And Barry just wants to stay in control, as he shows when he undermines nice guy security guard Evan ( James Earl ) by breaking into the company’s weapons cache(!).
This makes a bloody, unpleasant series of murders the only reason to see “The Belko Experiment.” Director Greg McLean (“ Wolf Creek ,” “Rogue”) fails to distinguish himself during medium close-up shots of heads exploding and torsos flailing. But McLean’s contributions to “The Belko Experiment” aren’t what makes the film so disappointing. Gunn’s unimaginative conception of a “Battle Royale” meets “ Office Space ” style horror film—I just bet that that was the elevator pitch—holds a decent cast back from dying meaningful deaths. Even the most diehard gorehounds and Gunn supporters should give this stinker a pass.
Simon Abrams
Simon Abrams is a native New Yorker and freelance film critic whose work has been featured in The New York Times , Vanity Fair , The Village Voice, and elsewhere.
- Tony Goldwyn as Barry Norris
- Adria Arjona as Leandra Flores
- David Dastmalchian as Alonso 'Lonny' Crane
- John Gallagher Jr. as Mike Milch
- David Del Rio as Roberto Jerez
- Melonie Diaz as Dany Wilkins
- Josh Brener as Keith McLure
- Sean Gunn as Marty Espenscheid
- Michael Rooker as Bud Melks
- John C. McGinley as Wendell Dukes
- Mikaela Hoover as Raziya Memarian
- Greg Mclean
Cinematographer
- Luis David Sansans
- Tyler Bates
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- What Is Cinema?
The Belko Experiment Is Horrifying for All the Wrong Reasons
Roughly 65 minutes into a press screening of the 88-minute film The Belko Experiment , a voice cried out in the darkness: “For God’s sake, enough already!”
The voice, much to my surprise, was my own—and, after asking a colleague to contact me later to “let me know how this garbage ends,” I raced out into the New York streets with a pounding in my chest and the onset of a rage-induced headache.
I am well aware that writing about movies is quite the cushy gig. I’ve had outdoor jobs in inclement weather; I’ve worked in sales ; I even had a boss who made me go out and buy his pornography. Still, there’s one thing those of you working in the real world can do that I can not: you can change the channel. You can leave the theater. Most of the time, I can’t. But Greg McLean’s hyper-violent gross-out pushed me past the point of professional courtesy. I offer no apologies.
The Belko Experiment may be steeped in over-the-top bloodshed and hampered by an asinine story, but that’s nothing we haven’t seen before. What pushes this movie past “dumb” into “reprehensible” is its glib attitude regarding the consequences of its own images. It is the filmmaking equivalent of an egg avatar on Twitter saying anything — anything —to get a rise out of people for the lulz. Worst of all, it’s got a handful of boilerplate excuses for those who dare call its bluff: “It’s satire!” Or maybe “It’s allegorical!” Or, if all else fails, “Hey, man, don’t censor my art!”
I’d sooner eat glass than advocate censorship, but I do pray for a world where every pip-squeak bro with a camera isn’t given license to whizz in our faces the way The Belko Experiment does.
O.K., so the movie. It’s basically Battle Royale with American office workers instead of Japanese schoolgirls. As with Battle Royale (which I’ve never been overly impressed with, quite frankly, but it has the crutch of its coming-of-age parable to make it more interesting) a swath of normal people suddenly find themselves in a kill-or-be-killed situation. As expats working for a vague corporation in Colombia, our crew are in an easily bunker-ized facility and, stay with me now, they have all had protective chips put in their heads.
This, ostensibly, is for their own protection; tracking in case they are ever kidnapped. But once the “experiment” begins, the real purpose of the chips is revealed. They’re there so an unseen force can push a button and have anyone’s skull explode all over the open floor plan.
Once the “experimenter” proves he means business via a few early deaths, and the 80 remaining workers realize they are completely isolated from civilization, they get the news: if 30 people aren’t killed, 60 people will be killed at random.
It’s completely ludicrous, but these tortuous scenarios do have their roots in actual ethical crises. (“Do we leave Johnson behind to die?” “No, everyone in this platoon is a brother!” etc.) The movie treats it very, very seriously, and what follows is harrowing. At first.
Alliances are formed and, naturally, we side with the “good guys” who scramble to somehow contact the outside world. (They are led by John Gallagher Jr. , who is fine. All the performers are fine. This abhorrent mess isn’t their fault.) Meanwhile, the dickish boss ( Tony Goldwyn ) and other aggros ( John C. McGinley , especially) face the “hard truths” of Darwinism and decide that it’s time to do some killing.
There is a gut-wrenching sequence reminiscent of the selection process used at Auschwitz. Anyone with children under the age of 18 over there. Anyone over 60 over there. It’s brutal and vicious. Grown men and women are sobbing, begging, puking from fear. People kneel down, guns are put to the backs of their heads, and the brains start splattering.
But I left out one thing: the wacky, ironic music. This sequence is cut to a groovy Latin cover of a 60s tune by the Mamas and the Papas for Maximum Edge. Filmmakers with few ideas are still aping the Stuck in the Middle with You bit from Reservoir Dogs —which, by the way, never showed the guy getting his ear cut off.
Director Greg McLean and screenwriter James Gunn have no such tact. A power outage makes everything look cool and neon, like a Michael Mann film; once the killing begins, the movie devolves into a cavalcade of gruesome squibs, exit wounds, and creative kills amid the cries and pleas for mercy.
Blood flies everywhere. Bones are crunched, skulls caved in. A premature ejaculation arrives when the baddies make good on their threat and, as terrified faces of all age and stripe meet their gooey end, the soundtrack switches to Tchaikovsky’s First Piano Concerto. (If you aren’t sure if you know this one, trust me, you do .) The barbarism ballet is horrifically nihilistic and bratty—but what really stinks is that the movie is designed to make those who say it’s gone too far sound like schoolmarms. Yes, yes, Internet commenters: I am a beta-male cuck, and I’ve been triggered.
Even more annoyingly, just a few years ago, the entertaining film Kingsman: The Secret Service did this very same bit! They had a radio-controlled thingamabob explode a bunch of heads, all set to classical music . That film’s tone was completely different, of course, and the violence was a lot more cartoonish. Belko , however, wants to have its scrambled cerebellum and eat it, too.
One could, I suppose, argue that my revulsion to this onslaught of gun violence is an example of “very effective filmmaking.” But even that would be a lie. The one other time I quit a screening before its completion, The Raid 2 at Sundance, it was because the gruesome violence (mixed with Park City, Utah’s high altitude) had me close to projectile vomiting all over the innocent fest-attendee seated a row ahead of me. Still, in my review , I gave a sheepish salute to the choreographers and athletes involved in the making of that film.
Not this time. The mindset behind The Belko Experiment is no different than that of a cruel 12-year-old who burns ants with a magnifying glass. The mayhem may elicit a few “whoaaaas” from drunk boys at a midnight screening, but the same could be said for watching Laser Floyd at the planetarium. And one need not totally abandon one’s morality during a sweet guitar solo. When this movie finds its fans, it will be among the instigators and Internet bullies: the type of people who know very well why there isn't a “White History Month,” but like to ask that question anyway—while safely situated behind a keyboard. For what it's worth, yes, I do know how this movie ends and who “wins”—but the film’s odiousness goes beyond its storytelling. It has a "nothing can affect me" attitude that is also quick to say, “The world is going to hell anyway—so who cares?” Unfortunately, most of us are trying to live in the great chasm between these two nihilistic beliefs.
That The Belko Experiment comes from the mind of James Gunn, whose Guardians of the Galaxy I quite enjoyed, makes me wonder if the oft-ridiculed creative committee behind the Marvel Cinematic Universe deserves more credit for making that space adventure such an agreeable romp. It’s quite something that between the comic-book adaptation and this, it’s the R-rated exposé of human cruelty that comes off as juvenile.
Highbrow Horror
Jordan Hoffman
Contributing editor.
- Consequence
Film Review: The Belko Experiment
This bloody, satiric thriller is far more effective as grindhouse pulp than as social commentary
Directed by
- Greg McLean
- Tony Goldwyn
- John Gallagher Jr.
Release Year
While James Gunn ’s found a nice home for himself with Marvel and the irreverent space opera of Guardians of the Galaxy , he’s a horror guy at heart. He got his start with the lovingly rendered schlock of Troma, and those fingerprints are all over everything he’s done since – from his screenplay for the bloody Dawn of the Dead remake to his gross-out alien invasion flick Slither . Luckily, The Belko Experiment (written by Gunn, directed by Greg McLean , and produced by low-budget thriller titan Blumhouse) feels like a return to the blood-slicked horror comedy of his roots, even if it doesn’t completely fire on all cylinders.
Set in the isolated, antiseptic office building of a mysterious company called Belko, based out of Bogotá, Colombia, The Belko Experiment quickly sets up its simple, high-concept premise: what if a group of ordinary office workers were trapped in their building, and forced to follow the commands of a mysterious voice that won’t let them out unless they’ve murdered a certain percentage of their colleagues? With this terrible choice thrust on them, the eighty-some employees of Belko weigh their options, and factions form. Some, like laid-back everyman Mike ( John Gallagher Jr. ), want to maintain the moral high ground and find a way to escape, while the alpha-male managerial types (including Tony Goldwyn ’s COO Barry) quickly start scheming their own way to the top of the survivor’s list. As can be expected, the more time passes, the more the social order breaks down, and soon enough the white halls of Belko become soaked with blood and littered with bodies. Think The Purge meets Office Space , with a story credit by the Stanford Prison Experiment.
Given Gunn’s Troma roots, it’s no surprise that The Belko Experiment , at its core, is an exercise in grimy, grindhouse pulp. Officemates are burned alive, crushed by elevators, and basically killed by anything you’ve seen around your office and thought, “Boy, that looks dangerous.” Heads explode like watermelons at a Gallagher show, thanks to their wranglers implanting a tracker/bomb in everyone’s skull to keep them following orders. Every crunch of bone, blood-splattered work shirt and crack of a gunshot is deeply felt. As a piece of ‘80s-throwback horror spectacle, Belko delivers the goods.
Unfortunately, what The Belko Experiment delivers in face-twisting gore and deliciously taut suspense, it lacks in insight. Gunn’s high-concept script desperately wants to sprinkle a few nuggets of social criticism in between the exploding heads and Molotov cocktails, but the script can’t find time to really delve into the office politics it thinks it’s sending up. Sure, we get the broad strokes (Ever wanted to kill your annoying coworker? Boy, management sucks, right?!), but it’s nothing particularly eye-opening. The thinly drawn characters don’t help: while Gallagher Jr.’s Mike is the ostensible protagonist, the film juggles around a couple dozen other named characters, leaving us little room to get to know them or find a reason to care. For instance, John C. McGinley ’s Wendell goes from meek, middle-aged weirdo to Special Forces badass in a matter of minutes with little explanation. Other characters, like Sean Gunn ’s stoner janitor or Michael Rooker ’s grizzled maintenance guy, only get brief moments to shine. (One scene involving Rooker and a wrench is wonderfully stomach-churning.)
This isn’t to say that the movie’s bread-and-butter isn’t still quite the experience – as a suspense thriller, The Belko Experiment works quite well in the moment. From the time the situation is explained to the Belko employees, all the way to a disturbing scene late in the film featuring discussions of eugenics and who should live or die, McLean’s command of tone and pace is delicious. Previously-disposable characters become indispensable, and characters we spend a lot of time with are abruptly dispatched, playing with our expectations in interesting ways. It’s during this middle stretch of the movie that the concept really clicks. But after a while, like the characters, you become numb to everyone’s suffering, which neuters the suspense a bit, leading to a needlessly trite and cynical ending that cries out for an unnecessary sequel.
As a pulpy horror movie that takes an inventive concept to its furthest conclusion, The Belko Experiment shows that Gunn still has what it takes to provide some visceral thrills. It’s too bad, then, that its critiques about the cutthroat world of corporate culture don’t cut quite as deep. You’d get about the same amount of satiric value if Office Space just featured Milton bashing Gary Cole’s head in with his red Swingline stapler. If you’re just looking for a gory, gonzo Purge Lite, though, you’ll enjoy yourself.
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This James Gunn/Peter Safran Horror Movie Is 'Battle Royale' Meets 'The Office'
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The Big Picture
- The Belko Experiment innovatively combines the battle royale trope with the mundane setting of an office block.
- The movie explores workplace hierarchy and human nature through intense action and ethical dilemmas.
- The film doesn't hold back on gore, delivering brutal kills that are unexpected yet meaningful in the battle for survival.
Within the battle royale subgenre (named after the 2000 seminal movie), which sees individuals pitted against each other in a fight to the death, The Belko Experiment is one of the standouts. A collaboration from now DC Studios co-CEOs , The Belko Experiment was written by James Gunn , known for his work on the Guardians of the Galaxy trilogy, and produced by Peter Safran , known to horror fans for his work on the Conjuring franchise . In the director's chair for the 2016 horror film was Wolf Creek helmer Greg McLean . Taking place in a single office block, the movie sees 80 employees at Belko Industries locked inside their workplace and told they must kill their fellow employees or risk being killed themselves. John Gallagher Jr . leads the cast as Mike Milch, an unremarkable worker at Belko Industries who steps up in the face of threat. The Belko Experiment has a huge number of characters and, consequently, has a huge death count . Yet, the movie ensures important individuals are introduced, meaning their deaths carry weight. It finds the perfect balance between action and emotion and combines the single-location trope , with the death game trope, making it an intensely compelling horror flick.
The Belko Experiment
'the belko experiment' takes death games to a new environment.
Death games are a popular trope within movies and TV , particularly with the success of Squid Game and the recent resurgence of The Hunger Games following the adaptation of the prequel novel, The Ballad of Songbirds and Snakes . Even within horror, the trope seems to be constantly appearing, from well-known franchises like Saw to stand-alone features such as Ready or Not , Would You Rather , and Truth or Dare . The Belko Experiment takes the trope to an environment that is familiar and rather mundane to viewers; your run-of-the-mill office block. The beginning of the movie frames itself as a normal workday as the employees at the Belko office in Bogotá, Columbia are preparing themselves for their day of work. However, there are slight unnerving undertones as armed guards turn away any locals who work for the company and leave only the American employees.
James Gunn's Gross, Horrific Directorial Debut is Now on Peacock
With a title like 'Slither,' it's no surprise James Gunn didn't hold back from the body horror gore in his debut film.
Slowly, we are introduced to the number of employees that work in the office. Considering the huge number of characters , The Belko Experiment successfully highlights the key players who are individualized and represent the vast range of people who work in the building. From the employees smiling at each other before rolling their eyes when they pass, to new girl Dani ( Melonie Diaz ) getting her introduction to the company, to Marty, a cafeteria worker played by writer James Gunn's younger brother Sean Gunn having a smoke in the toilet and trying to encourage the fumes to go through the air vent. The subtle nuances of everyday life are detailed and realistic. It allows the characters to feel human but still gives them distinctive personalities. Without this pre-established characterization, the eventual battle royale scenario wouldn't feel so tense.
'The Belko Experiment' Explores Workplace Hierarchy
At first, when it is revealed that the employees at Belko must kill two of their fellow employees, they don't believe it is real. The group doesn't panic and logically attempts to resolve the situation. Then two people are killed when their heads explode. The tone of the movie immediately shifts from a casual, ordinary workday to utter chaos. The stakes of the situation are clear, and the characters react in different ways that reflect the internal structure of the company. The weapons are claimed by those in high-powered positions, such as CEO Barry Norris ( Tony Goldwyn ), and those lower in the company are left to fend for themselves.
This execution of power culminates in one of the most effective scenes of the entire movie. Played to the soundtrack of "California Dreamin'" in Spanish, Norris picks out the elderly employees as well as those without children and forces them to kneel in a line. They are mercilessly shot one by one, asserting the power of Norris' group. Scenes like this allow The Belko Experiment to explore the themes of human nature and the value of one life over the other. The characters question the morality of killing, and whether certain people deserve saving over others. One employee, Terry ( Owain Yeoman ), even pulls Norris aside and suggests a lottery would be fairer. It heightens the existential nature that comes from the battle royale subgenre and forces the viewer to question their own ethics. Even when the characters are in action-heavy, dangerous situations, The Belko Experiment always places ethics and morality at the center. It is not just a movie with a high death count, the kills have meaning and motivation.
'The Belko Experiment' Doesn't Hold Back On Gore
The social aspect of The Belko Experiment is only half of its appeal. It is still a battle royale movie and the expectation is lots of kills, and it more than delivers on that aspect. The first kill of the movie might be accidental, but it sets the tone for the brutality to follow. Lonny ( David Dastmalchian ) hits his fellow maintenance worker Bud ( Michael Rooker ) with a wrench, causing a gaping hole in his skull. The first handful of deaths are slow, but after a certain character's slaughter, The Belko Experiment turns bloody and relentless. The reveal that the sole survivor will be the individual with the highest kill count just causes more carnage. There are a large number of gun-inflicted deaths, but The Belko Experiment utilizes the office environment to offer some innovative kills including an elevator, a cleaver, and a fire axe.
The deaths are unexpected but never feel gimmicky. Through this, the balance of action and characterization makes The Belko Experiment a fresh interpretation of the battle royale subgenre. Pitting co-workers against each other adds an innovative dynamic. They are characters who develop such intense relationships through seeing each other every day but are quick to turn on each other to protect external relationships that mean more, such as their families. It is a new take on the classmates seen in the original Battle Royale , and the dynamic is very similar. The Belko Experiment encapsulates the culture of an office block and the brutality of the death game trope. It is energetic and gory but also tender and grounded, making it a must-watch for fans of the subgenre.
The Belko Experiment is available to rent on Amazon.
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- Movie Features
The Belko Experiment
- Edit source
| The Belko Experiment | |
| Greg McLean | |
| Dan Clifton Simon Hatt Jimmy Holcomb | |
| Tyler Bates | |
| Luis David Sansans | |
| Julia Wong | |
| Blumhouse Productions The Safran Company | |
| Thriller | |
| | |
| March 17, 2017 | |
| 89 minutes | |
| $5 Million | |
| $11.1 Million | |
| R | |
| USA | |
| English | |
The Belko Experiment is a 2016 American action horror-thriller film directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn. The film stars John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley and Melonie Diaz. Filming began on June 1, 2015, in Bogotá, Colombia. The film premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016 and was released in the United States on March 17, 2017, by Blumhouse Tilt and Orion Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and had a box office of $11.1 million worldwide & had a $5 million budget.
- 4 Behind the Scenes
Synopsis [ ]
Mike Milch is arriving at work several employees are sent home by new guards leaving 80 people including Mike, Barry Norris, Adria Arjona played by Mikes' girlfriend Leandra Jerez, and new recruit Danielle Wilkins. A voice comes over the intercom and instructs the employees to kill 2 people. However nobody believes it, Marty Espenscheid thinks it's a psychological test and Barry thinks it's a prank until one of Martys friends head explodes followed by 3 other people.
The voice comes back instructing them they have 2 hours to kill 30 people or 60 of them will die. Mike, Leandra and Keith try to flag the guards but the guards fire at them with assault rifles. Bud Melks and Lonny Crane try to break the metal on the doors and windows but fail so they go into the basement with Dany. Lonny attacks them with a wrench, he kills Bud but Dany kicks him into a pipe which results in him getting impaled. Barry, Wendell, Antonio, Terry, and Bradly attempt to open the weapon safe. Mike Leandra and Evan try to stop them but Wendell stabs Evan and steals the keys, Mike is knocked out as well. Barry and his crew begin their killing spree. Johnathan & 10 others are executed. Mike is about to be executed however Dany turns off the lights of the facility, which results in all of the surviving employees excluding Barry and his group, fleeing. Now desperate to get a total of 30 kills, Barry and his group open fire on the fleeing employees. Soon afterwards, Barry’s group attempts to chase down the other employees which results in them splitting up. Antonio chases Peggy into a stairwell in order to kill her. However just as he was to kill her, Mike jumps on him distracting him long enough for Peggy to take Antonio‘s knife and kill Antonio. Bradley tries to restore the power to the facility but Vince tackles him to ground, he and several other employees, murder Bradley. At that point, 29 employees are killed in phase 2. The Voice contacts again to explain they only have 2 minutes to kill one more person or 31 additional employees will die. As Barry, Wendell and Terry are searching for more employees to kill, Leandra surprises Terry with a paper trimmer attempting to kill him but she hesitates to do so. The Voice then contacts the remaining employees & explains that the 2 minutes is up and 31 employees will be killed. Terry, Keith, Peggy and several others employees are then killed which leaves only 16 employees left in the building.
The Voice comes over the intercom & says it time for "Phase 3", Whoever kills the most people in one hour will be allowed to leave alive. Barry then kills Roberto but gets trapped in the elevator in the process. Wendell then finds and kills 2 employees in the bathroom. Leandra then finds Chet and Marty & they proceed to collect the bombs of the dead employees. Leandra, Chet and Marty then meet up with Mike. They stumble across Wendell pulling Tyson out of a freezer and dismembering him up. Leandra then shoots Wendell but not killing him, She then hides with Chet and Marty behind a table. Wendell then shoots and kills Chet & Marty but is killed by Leandra. Vince finally accepts that he has to kill, so he grabs Bradley’s pistol and kills Raziyah. Mike and Lezlie find Leandra but are attacked by Vince who kills Lezlie. As Vince is hunting Mike and Leandra, he gets killed by Barry. As Mike and Leandra are running away from Barry, Leandra gets shot & begins to bleed out. Barry then finds and kills Dany. Leandra soon dies from blood loss. Mike angrily kills Barry with a tape dispenser which makes Mike is the last survivor and is eventually carried away by two security guards, carefully attaching the bombs gathered earlier to the guards in the process. He is taken outside & brought into a nearby hangar.
Inside the hangar, The Voice has been watching, communicating & operating the experiment within. As the Voice is attempting to question Mike, Mike notices a switchboard with every employees name on it that allowed detonation of the the bombs that were implanted. Mike suddenly runs to the switchboard & flips every switch except the switch with his name on it. All of the bombs explode, killing the security guards & wounding the Voice in the process. Mike then picks up one of the guard‘s assault rifles and kills the two other employees working with the Voice. As the Voice pleads, Mike shoots the Voice. Mike then exits the hangar. The camera panes out revealing Mike to be one of many sole survivors of other Belko experiments across South America. Another voice is heard saying commence stage 2.
- John Gallagher Jr. as Mike Milch , a Mid-level officer worker employee at Belko Industries
- Gregg Henry as The Voice , The leader and director of the experiment
- Tony Goldwyn as Barry Norris , the Chief Operating Officer of Belko and an ex-Special Forces soldier
- Adria Arjona as Leandra Florez , Norris' Foul-mouthed assistant and Mike's love interest
- Melonie Diaz as Dany Wilkins , New kid on the block hired at Belko. First day on the job.
- Brent Sexton as Vince Agostino , Belko's head of human resources
- Alietta Montero as Liezle Freemont , an elderly cafeteria worker.
- John C. McGinley as Wendell Dukes , a socially awkward High-level top executive; deemed a "pervert".
- Sean Gunn as Marty Espenscheid , A cafeteria worker, hippie, and stoner.
- Abraham Benrubi as Chet Valincourt , Marty Espenscheid's best friend.
- Joe Fria as Tyson Moon , Wendell's friend.
- David Del Rio as Roberto Jerez , a Latino office worker who befriends Dany and Leota.
- Maruia Shelton as Agnes Meraz , a co-worker of Luigi.
- Cindy Better as Lorena Checo , a worker who pretends to be friendly to Norris.
- Mikaela Hoover as Raziya Memarian , Agostino's assistant who greets Dany on her first day.
- Juan Ortega as Luigi Moretti , a co-worker of Agnes.
- Josh Brener as Keith Mclure , a nerdy tech worker
- Rusty Schwimmer as Peggy Displasia , Mike Milch's administrative assistant secretary.
- Gail Bean as Leota Hynek , a Friendly office worker who befriends Dany and Roberto.
- David Cantor as Griffin Myers , a cafeteria worker.
- Charles Daze as Tim Gallaher , a worker.
- Ximena Rodriguez as A. Huberman , a pretty cafeteria worker.
- Maia Landaburu as Louisa "Raven" Luna , Head of the cleaning crew and other custodians.
- Guillermo Galindo as Carlos Yanez , an elderly worker.
- Owain Yeoman as Terry Winters , Mike's English Fop co-worker and friend and pushover when it comes to Norris.
- Andres Suarez as Bradley Lang , Dany's co-worker whom secretly has a crush on Dany
- Benjamin Byron Davis as Antonio Fowler , a Large office worker loyal to Norris.
- Stephen Blackehart as Robert Hickland , a hotheaded, short-tempered interpreter
- Valentine Miele as Ross Reynolds , a sleazy sales representative for Belko
- Kristina Lilley as Sarah Mariana , a worker and is the last person to arrive before the experiment begins.
- Lorena Tobar as J. Ferguson , an elderly cafeteria worker.
- Silvia de Dios as Helena Barton , the supervisor of Roberto, Leota, Bradley and Dany
- Santiago Bejarano as Luis Costa , an friendly elderly worker.
- Luna Baxter as Samantha Arcos , a co-worker of Mike with a hatred for Norris.
- Silvia Varon as Frances Anne , the only wheelchair-using employee of Belko.
- Alvaro Garcia as Jonathan Schwartz , an elderly worker.
- James Earl as Evan Smith , Belko's only official security guard at the Front desk
- David Dastmalchian as Lonny Crane , a maintenance worker under Melks who loses his nerve.
- Michael Rooker as Bud Melks , Belko's head of the Maintenance department
- Yeison Alvarez as Lawrence Fitzgibbon , Evan's best friend.
- Maria Juliana Caicedo as Lucy Martinez , a friend of Chet and Marty
- Manuel Torres as Christopher Francis , a quiet office worker
- Juan Manuel Lenis as Sebastian Bruno , an office worker
- Juan Carlos Villegas as a subtle interpreter.
- Monica Giraldo as Victoria Baro , a worker.
- Alfonso Olave as a young executive.
- Javier Riveros as a middle-aged executive.
- Melissa Bermúdez as a young executive.
- Andrés Rojas as a young office worker.
- Federico Nieto-El' Gazi as an office worker.
- Orion Pictures is a subsidiary of Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer. Formerly an independent entity, it was Revived as a film production studio in 2013
- James Gunn conceived the plot of this film from a dream he had.
- Production on The Belko Experiment began on July 12th, 2015. Exterior shots of the movie were filmed on-location in Bogotá, Colombia
- Although the man behind "The Voice" is finally revealed at the end of the film, it is made clear that he is but a minor cog in the machine. As the architects and builders behind this and all of the other experiments all remain unknown
- This is John Gallagher Jr. 's second thriller film released in 2016. The other one being 10 Cloverfield Lane .
- Actor John C. McGinley also played in Office Space . Which coincidentally movies both take place in a office and have a 89 minute run time
- Actor James Earl meets again with John C. McGinely as they were both cast members on Ground Floor
- James Gunn has a great affection for actor Michael Rooker . Known for playing Yondu Udonta in Gunn's superhero movies Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 1 and Vol. 2 [1]
Behind the Scenes [ ]
- James Gunn announced the film on his Facebook page on March 31, 2015. He began posting cast announcements daily on May 18, 2015.
- Filming began in early June, 2015 in Bogota, Colombia.
- 1 The Belko Experiment
- 2 Dany Wilkins
- 3 Frances Anne
- Cast & crew
- User reviews
The Belko Experiment
- In a twisted social experiment, eighty Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company's intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed.
- Mike Milch, an employee of Belko Industries, while driving to work is stopped by street vendors selling "lucky" handmade dolls. Barry Norris, also of Belko Industries, arrives at the remote office building in rural Bogotá, Colombia, to find unfamiliar security guards turning away the local Colombian staff at the gate. New employee Dany Wilkins reports for her first day on the job and is told that a tracking device is implanted in the base of every Belko employee's skull in case they are kidnapped. This is explained as being common in Colombia due to the high incidences of kidnapping.
- Bogota, Colombia Mike Milch (John Gallagher, Jr.) is on his way to work while driving down a crowded street. He is approached at his car by a man in town who offers him a figure made from an old corncob. Mike buys one from the man. Mike arrives at his job, Belko Industries. The company COO Barry Norris (Tony Goldwyn) pulls up to find armed guards at the entrance asking to see ID. All the local employees are sent home. As he enters the building, we meet other Belko employees who have been working there for over a year. Mike goes to his girlfriend, Leandra Florez (Adria Arjona), who is in the process of getting divorced. Leandra is constantly harassed by Wendell Dukes (John C. McGinley), who doesn't get she's not interested. There is new employee Dany Wilkins (Melonie Diaz), who is told that the employees all have trackers placed in their heads for the higher-ups to keep an eye on them, due to the high number of kidnappings that occur in Colombia. Dany becomes acquainted with Roberto Jerez (David Del Rio) and Leota Hynek (Gail Bean). Not long into the day, a mysterious voice (Gregg Henry) speaks over the intercom telling the employees that within 8 hours, most of them will be dead. In 30 minutes, they are required to kill two people, or else more will die. The building is then completely sealed off by metal on all the doors and windows. Everybody becomes nervous and tense, while Barry tries to keep everyone calm. People play it off as a sick prank. Maintenance workers Bud Melks (Michael Rooker) and Lonny Crane (David Dastmalchian) try to melt the metal off with the blowtorch, but the metal is apparently too strong for it to have any sort of effect. Dany, Roberto, Leota, and tech guy Keith McClure (Josh Brener) go the roof to find cafeteria worker Marty Espenscheid (Sean Gunn) smoking a joint up there with two of his friends. As they discuss the situation, one of Marty's friends dies when the back of her head explodes. The others freak out, while in the lobby, three more people die with their skulls getting blown out. The other employees panic, thinking someone is shooting at them. Upon further inspection, the employees learn that the trackers in their heads are set to explode. Mike goes into the bathroom to try and cut his out, only for The Voice to speak and order him to stop trying to take it out or they will detonate it on their own. Mike stops at the last second as Leandra begs him to stop. The Voice then states that they are not messing around, and now it is demanded that the employees kill 30 among them within two hours, or 60 will be killed. The employees start to weigh their options, as some of them cannot bring themselves to killing anyone else. Barry, however, is set to make it home to his wife and kids, so he tries to get security guard Evan Smith (James Earl) to give him the keys to the armory. Evan refuses to do so after he just witnessed one of his fellow guards and friend get killed by the explosive. In the basement, Lonny is freaking out as Bud tries to calm him down. Bud gets too close, and Lonny reacts by hitting Bud in the head with a wrench, leaving a huge dent in Bud's head as he dies. Dany, who was hiding, witnesses the whole thing. Lonny tries to stop her from telling anyone and he grabs her. Dany kicks herself back and causes Lonny to back his head into a metal bar, killing him. Mike, Leandra, and Evan split up while Barry, Wendell, and Terry Winters (Owain Yeoman) work together to try and break into the armory with a blowtorch. Evan tries to stop them by pulling out his gun, but he relents and must let them continue. Mike takes Evan's gun and shoots the blowtorch tank before he leaves with Leandra and Evan. The three meet up with Keith, Leota, and Roberto to make signs to hang over the building to call for help. The guards in the hangar spot them and start shooting at them, hitting Keith in his hand. The Voice demands them to stop hanging up signs, or their explosives will go off. Mike and his friends start to head back downstairs, but Mike gets knocked in the head with a fire extinguisher by Barry. In the heat of the moment, Wendell stabs Evan and takes his keys. Evan suffers as he bleeds out. Barry and his guys get the guns out and start ordering people to head into the lobby as they get down to less than 20 minutes before their deadline. They begin to group people according to whether or not they have kids or if they are over the age of 60. Mike is then brought in after he regains consciousness. Barry and Wendell start executing people, and Terry nearly gets to Mike until Dany cuts off the power in the basement. Barry, Wendell, and some of their goons start shooting in the dark while others make it out safely. The Voice speaks over the intercom saying that time is up and they have only killed 29 people. 31 additional people have their heads blown out, including Keith and Leota. Everyone else hides. The Voice speaks again and says the third round of their game will have the employees with the most kills walk out free. So far, Barry and Wendell have the most kills, so they go off to try and up that count by killing everyone they come across. One woman tries to offer her body to Barry for her life. He responds by twisting her neck backwards. Barry gets into an elevator as Dany and Roberto try to make their way up on top. Dany gets off the top but Roberto gets crushed by the elevator, leaving Barry stuck. Dany climbs to the other side to get out. Leandra finds Marty and his friend Chet (Abraham Benrubi) in the cafeteria where numerous bodies are laid out. Marty and Chet dug the bombs out of the heads of those who didn't get their skulls blown out. Wendell shows up and starts shooting. Leandra hides behind a table with Marty and Chet, but those two get shot dead by Wendell. Leandra makes her way over to Wendell and starts swinging an axe down into his face. Mike and Leandra find each other and evade one employee who is flinging Molotov cocktails, and Barry wielding his gun. Barry shoots Dany in the head as she comes out of the elevator. The Molotov guy gets shot too. Unfortunately, so does Leandra. She dies next to Mike before he steps out in a rage and goes after Barry. The two fight until Mike grabs hold of a tape dispenser and starts bashing Barry's head in. Mike is then the sole survivor. The guards come in and pull him out. Mike is brought into the hangar, where he meets The Voice himself, a man whose face is partially scarred. He tells Mike that the experiment was to observe human behavior in this type of experiment. Mike then reveals that he took the bombs that Marty dug out and slipped them onto the guards and The Voice. He runs to the control panel and sets them off, then shoots two other goons. The Voice tries to talk Mike out of it, but he has none of it and shoots The Voice man dead. Mike walks out of the building. The camera pans out to reveal other screens from dozens of other Belko companies where other survivors have completed their own ordeal. Another voice then commences "Phase 2."
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The Belko Experiment
"All employees, no matter what you're doing, please stop and lend me your full attention."
The Belko Experiment is a 2016 horror thriller film directed by Greg McLean ( Wolf Creek ) and written and produced by James Gunn . Its premise has been summarized as " Office Space meets Battle Royale ".
The film revolves around Belko Industries, a non-profit organization that facilitates American companies in South America. 80 Americans work abroad for the company at a building in Bogotá, Colombia, doing what seems on the surface to be a normal corporate job.
One day, after all the employees arrive to work, a voice on the intercom gives a simple order: two employees must be killed in the next half-hour, or there will be "repercussions". The employees' shock and disbelief at the request turn to horror when the extents of the repercussions are made clear, after which everyone is then locked in the building and forced to participate in a deadly game of kill-or-be-killed.
Gunn was inspired to write the film's screenplay in 2007, with the main premise coming to him in a dream . Although the film was greenlit with Gunn attached to also direct, he ultimately turned down the opportunity and moved onto other projects. In 2014, a producer from Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer called Gunn expressing interest in making the film; while he was too busy working on Guardians of the Galaxy (2014) to direct it, he agreed to produce it while being given full creative control.
The Belko Experiment contain examples of:
- Actual Pacifist : Raziya, the Muslim woman, witnesses a bunch of Belko employees (including Vince) stomp one of Barry's gunmen to death (in self-defense, no less) and can only scream for them to stop.
- All for Nothing : Lampshaded by Mike. He's the only character who points out that if this is real, there's no way they will ever let anyone live to tell about it.
- All There in the Script : The names for the majority of the characters.
- Anyone Can Die : Of the 80 employees, only Mike survives.
- Apologetic Attacker : A completely heartbreaking one from Vince to Raziya right before he shoots her.
- Ax-Crazy : Subverted. Nobody is killing out of sadistic pleasure, just self-preservation.
- Bad Guys Do the Dirty Work : The only way to survive is to kill others. Everyone admits it is evil and wrong, but some care more about survival.
- Big Bad : Barry is the one who decides to start hunting people and only grows more unstable as the movie progresses.
- Big Brother Is Watching You : The entire building is under total observation, so anyone attempting escape or trying to remove the bombs in their heads will not get past them.
- Blasphemous Boast : Barry refers to the Voice as "our new god".
- Closed Circle : The building is sealed, and any attempt to escape is met by armed guards.
- Cluster F-Bomb : Several characters drop a few here and there, but Marty takes the cake. Every other sentence out of his mouth contains the F-word even before things get real.
- Characters Dropping Like Flies : There are 80 characters, and 79 need to die within 88 minutes of movie — deaths are very common.
- A woman scared by Raven picks up a fork to protect herself and goes into a fighting stance. Barry calmly walks over to her and gives her much needed hug while gently taking the fork from her hand.
- Cool Old Guy : Bud.
- Cruel and Unusual Death : Lots. Heads exploding by implanted bombs, face smashed with an axe, hacked to death with cleavers, crushed by an elevator...
- The Cynic : Leandra, which ironically puts her worldview more in common to her boss Barry's realism than her friend Mike's idealism.
- Deadly Game : The Belko workers are ordered to kill their co-workers, and threatened with death should they refuse. The announcer outright refers to it as a "game".
- Decoy Protagonist : More like "Decoy Final Girl". Dany Wilkins was genre savvy enough to survive the majority of the game by hiding and avoiding Barry and his crew. The movie builds it up that she might survive the game but made the mistake of getting on an elevator, which led to her getting shot by Barry.
- Dead Star Walking : Michael Rooker doesn't even last a half hour, in addition to being the first employee killed by another employee.
- Defrosting Ice Queen : Dany's supervisor, an older blond lady, all-business demeanor comes across a tad harsh. Later on, that same woman is seen helping an injured young Keith walk down a flight of stairs.
- Downer Ending : Mike survives, but many of his friends and co-workers, including his girlfriend, are dead, and the experiment isn't over as he and many others who survived are once again forced to compete in another round.
- The Dragon : Wendell is by far the most Ax-Crazy of Barry's group. He kills Evan simply for throwing keys to the ground and shows absolutely no emotion or remorse with killing after that.
- Elevator Failure : Barry gets trapped in an elevator when Roberto is crushed by it , getting it stuck in place.
- Elder Abuse : The very first group Barry chooses to execute is anyone over the age of 60.
- Entitled Bastard : The Voice and his cronies have Mike brought before them after he "wins" and arrogantly expect his cooperation when they start grilling him about the psychological effect of what he just experienced. He refuses to play along and kills them all.
- Even Evil Has Standards : Nobody approved of Wendell stabbing Evan for the cardinal sin of throwing the armory keys down the stairs. Terry is downright horrified and even Barry is shown to be visibly annoyed.
- For Science! : The ending explains that it's all just a sick sociology experiment.
- Face Death with Dignity : During the execution line up in the lobby, while others are screaming, crying, begging and damning Barry and friends to hell, one woman just simply takes a deep breath and closes her eyes before she's shot.
- Face–Heel Turn : Several characters undergo one either due to panic, desperation, or just raw pragmatism — some quicker than others.
- Foreshadowing : During Mike's fight with Barry, they knock over an introductory voiceover PowerPoint of Belko Industries, which mentions that the company has forty offices. When Mike ends up becoming the final survivor of the film, the ending reveals that each Belko office had a survivor of its own.
- Gaining the Will to Kill : As the time limit gets closer, some characters begin to realize killing the others is their best chance to live.
- Gentle Giant : Vince Agostino is friendly guy and accommodating boss who takes time to teach new hire Dany the ropes. On more than one occasion used his great strength to move someone to safety; like a wheelchair bound lady. Unfortunately, by the final stage he completely flips his gourd.
- Gorn : Plenty. There are multiple gruesome deaths with gory bodies on full display.
- Hero of Another Story : The ending shows 39 other people that won their own "game."
- Hidden in Plain Sight : All of the monitoring equipment and scientists are hidden in a huge, dilapidated aircraft hangar that is on Belko property for some reason that apparently nobody has ever bothered to look in.
- I Have a Family : Invoked multiple times by multiple people. Even the most murderous of the group call out and set aside those with children under 18 and spare them from execution. Until game 3, anyway.
- Improvised Weapon : Lots. A wrench, a hammer, a tape dispenser, a rolling pin, a fork, a podium, the blade of a paper cutter, molotovs, kitchen knives, cleavers...
- Instant Death Bullet : Multiple scenes with a handgun being fired into a crowd and people just fall over instantly dead.
- Laser-Guided Karma : Lonny accidentally kills Bud in a fit of panic when he just trying get Lonny to calm down. Then Lonny gets accidentally killed by Dany when he desperately tries to force her to keep quiet about whole mess.
- Lottery of Doom : Multiple people consider this the morally correct way to let it play out. Don't kill anyone and just wait to see who dies.
- Made of Indestructium : The shields that seal the doors and windows don't even heat up , let alone melt, after prolonged use of an acetylene torch.
- MegaCorp : Belko Industries, a non-profit company. With body armored security guards and a fully stocked armory. Oh, and the mandatory murder. It's indicated the entire company and its many offices are just a front for the titular experiment.
- Mr. Fixit : Bud. When the AC is disabled, he is absolutely confident he can fix it no matter what "they" did to it.
- The Needs of the Many : Characters make this argument several times. Assuming the rules are followed, killing 30 means 50 survive. Otherwise only 20 survive. Mike counters that, even setting aside the morality of complying with this mandate, there's no way in hell that killing 30 people will actually save anyone, because there's no way anyone pulling this kind of "social experiment" would let anyone live to tell of it. He's right.
- No Name Given : A huge majority of the employees are never named and simply serve as fodder.
- No Social Skills : Subverted for Wendell. His creepiness toward Leandra not withstanding, Wendell is shown to get along rather well with the rest of his coworkers at the beginning of the film.
- Older Sidekick : Chet to Marty. He seems to just go along with whatever crazy nonsense Marty comes up with.
- Ominous Multiple Screens : The final shot of the film is a camera zooming out on a panel of dozens of screens, showing other "winners".
- Only Sane Man : Out of all the Belko employees, Mike is the most rational. When the "experiment" is first announced, Mike immediately attempts get everyone to calmly evacuate. The majority thinks it's just some kind of prank, to which Mike admits that it is likely but still insists on leaving just to be on the safe side.
- Pull the Thread : Lampshaded. Multiple characters notice and mention that the security guards were replaced with armed soldiers, but nobody actually seems to care.
- Read the Fine Print : Marty makes a comment about Belko being able to do anything they want because of the absurd contracts they were required to sign to begin working there, and asks if anyone else actually read it before signing. Nobody did.
- Retired Badass : Barry and Wendell. When discussing whether or not they should start killing people, someone makes mention that "some of us aren't trained Special Forces killers" and gestures at them both.
- The Reveal : Mike is the sole survivor of the film...but the screen at the end shows that 40 other people survived the experiment, a majority of them covered in blood and holding weapons, and a voice announces the commencement of "stage 2" .
- Roaring Rampage of Revenge : After becoming the last man standing, Mike manages to kill all the guards and scientists running the experiment as revenge for what they did.
- The Belko employees are given one already-insane choice at first: kill two fellow employees in a half-hour's time, or "face repercussions" (which are revealed to be double that amount of employees being killed ).
- This is then one-upped by the next choice the employees get: kill thirty coworkers in two hours' time, or Belko will kill sixty .
- Sanity Slippage : Barry, who goes from the most collective to flat-out doing an execution in the lobby and then just going on a killing spree when Belko states that the person with the highest kill count will survive .
- Sealed Room in the Middle of Nowhere : The Belko building is in an extremely rural part of Colombia, and all exits are sealed off.
- Sequel Hook : The film ends with the reveal that Belko is a huge corporation with many, many locations... all of which were performing the same experiment. A disembodied voice states that "stage two" has commenced, implying that all of the survivors are going to be placed in another experiment, not let free as promised.
- Shoot Everything That Moves : Employees with guns employ this method when they lose control.
- Shoot the Shaggy Dog : Dany, the new hire on her first day, is built up throughout the film as a possible Final Girl , as she survives various situations and has several scenes devoted to her sub-arc. She gets killed nonchalantly by Barry towards the end.
- Sinister Surveillance : Someone is watching what's going on in Belko...
- Spotting the Thread : The first indication that something is off is the security has been replaced by heavily armed guards and all of the Colombian employees are being sent home for the day.
- Spy Cam : Used liberally. Multiple are hidden in every room of the Belko building.
- The Stoner : Marty. Heck, his first scene is of him smoking a joint in the bathroom. Once the situation takes turn for the worse, however, he exhibits behavior akin to getting high with mushrooms instead of marijuana.
- Stupid Evil : Exhibited in the ending. Mike is the sole survivor, and is brought before the Entitled Bastards responsible for the murders of his coworkers to... do a questionnaire on the experience . It doesn't end well for them, as Mike easily disarms and dispatches them . Even though they're just the decoys for the real masterminds, they're still exceptionally stupid.
- Took a Level in Badass : Mike goes the pacifist route initially, but at the end systematically kills those running the titular experiment.
- Tap on the Head : Subverted. Lonny taps Bud with a wrench to get him away. It caves in his skull and kills him.
- There Can Be Only One : "Game" three is that only the one employee with the most kills gets to leave.
- These Hands Have Killed : Patty when she stabs Antonio to save Mike. A deleted scene expands upon it further.
- Villains Want Mercy : The Voice has the nerve to beg for undeserved mercy when Mike holds him at gunpoint. Mike gives him what he deserves.
- Violence Is the Only Option : Characters attempt to dig the explosives out of their heads, make phone calls, blowtorch their way out, and hang banners asking for help. Eventually the only option is to kill each other.
- Water Source Tampering : Marty, unable to comprehend that the game is actually happening , begins trying to spread a theory that they are all hallucinating due to "something" in the water.
- Wham Line : The final line of the film. "End stage one. Commence stage two. "
- One could argue this is the whole point of the experiment.
- Leandra was among the most cynical of the group, yet when she had a pleading Terry (whom earlier came within a hairbreadth of shooting Mike AND her) on the ground and every right to split his head open, Leandra shows Terry mercy.
- Workplace Horror : A thriller where only one employee is allowed to live at the end of the workday.
- Would Hit a Girl : Women are attacked and killed just as indiscriminately and brutally as the men.
- Your Head A-Splode : All Belko employees had a tracking chip implanted in the back of their necks, ostensibly to prevent kidnapping. They also explode when conditions aren't met.
- Creator/James Gunn
- Creator/Blumhouse Productions
- The Beguiled
- Films of 2015–2019
- Berlin Syndrome
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Warning: Spoilers for The Belko Experiment ahead
If you could kill your co-workers, would you? That’s the basic premise working at the heart of The Belko Experiment . Greg McLean’s latest psychological thriller pits the employees of the mysterious Belko Industries (an impressive cast that belies the film’s low budget) against each other, with an unseen voice daring them to murder their colleagues before their new overlords kill double. The film mines this concept for all its worth, showing the gradual breakdown of the distressed workforce into fractured parties fighting to stay alive in their own unique ways.
Of course, this isn’t as simple as just being a gore-fest; there’s some sly social commentary at play and, to enable the story, writer James Gunn (who found time to script the film while directing Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 2 ) has constructed a massive conspiracy behind the titular corporation.
Related: The Belko Experiment 2: Is It Happening or Not?
As a quick recap, at the end of the film, John Gallagher Jr.’s Mike Milch emerges as the lone survivor of the three phases of the experiment (to kill two people, to kill thirty people and to have made the most kills respectively). He’s taken by armed guards to meet "The Voice" a scarred suit played by Gregg Henry, who swiftly explains the whole thing as some form of social experiment before Mike manages to kill him and the guard. The final shot then reveals that he’s not alone in his experience, and is still being monitored as "Stage 2" begins. Needless to say, there's a lot going on, so let's take a deep dive into what happened and what it actually means.
What is Belko Industries?
Outwardly, Belko is a non-profit organization that helps South American companies hire US-national workers. The office seen in the film is based in rural Colombia and operated by a mixture of native workers and American immigrants. Through the eyes of new employee Dany we get a taste of their hiring procedure; after signing a contract that gives full power over to the corporation, each of the expats is fitted with a tracker that allows the company to find them should anything go wrong in the dangerous country (crucially, locals don’t have such precautions installed).
This extreme hiring and Day One process definitely limits the sort of people who work for the company. In the words of Roberto, no normal people work at Belko. Indeed, at least a handful of the standard employees are ex-special forces, and the implication is that relocation comes with a major cash payout. What sort of work the employees do beyond basic recruitment work isn’t divulged by the film, giving the job a generic feel, which also ties into how Belko Industries isn’t what it seems.
It’s only ever suggested in the movie by the employees, but it seems fair to assume that the company is a complete front with no actual business purpose. Their building is a government construction plated completely with thick, impervious metal – on the face of it to keep any dangerous parties out, but in intention and practice to keep people in – situated in a highly remote location. It is, in reality, all setup for the "experiment".
What Is The Experiment?
As becomes quickly apparent in the movie, Belko’s true purpose is to serve as the setting for an incredibly deadly sociological experiment. This is instigated by the arrival of mysterious armed security, a block of all forms of communication, a complete lockdown of the building itself and an announcement commanding the employees to kill each other. The unwilling subjects are forced to participate in the game by the trackers – they have an auxiliary (although it’s really their primary) purpose as bombs, able to explode at the flick of a button. With wall-to-wall monitoring, these are used as both a threat against any breaking of the “game’s” rules (dismantling cameras or trying to signal for help) and a punishment if the tasks of killing coworkers aren’t completed.
At the film’s climax, we finally get some semblance of an explanation - albeit a brief one. The Voice reveals he is part of an international organization made up of the greatest thinkers and social scientists in the world, who have used money and influence to create elaborate labs where they can perform complex experiments free from standard moral and societal confines.
This case appears to be, as Sean Gunn’s Marty posits, to examine how different people react under pressure - just a bit more extreme than he first theorized. Belko’s hiring practices mean they have plentiful information on each of the 80 participants’ backgrounds, and they’re able to manipulate the test base to fit their needs. The cast of the film spans all ages and seems to have a range of backgrounds, which in-universe is done to obtain a wide set of data. What data exactly is left unexplained, but we can assume is that it's rooted in a desire to analyze US citizens - the Colombian employees of Belko are sent home at the gates on the day of the experiment - and, from the final twist, weed out the most capable candidates.
What is Stage 2?
That’s still not quite the full picture, though, as the final shot reveals. After Mike has killed his captors, he stumbles outside and the angle shifts to a CCTV camera, revealing that he is actually still being watched. And he’s not the only one; the camera zooms out further to show collection of screens monitoring various lone survivors from similar experiences at other Belko locations around the world – at least 30 – when an eerie, new voice announces it’s time for “Stage 2”.
This reframes the previous explanation of what’s going on. While it’s definitely likely that The Voice was fully informed when he divulged the vague details of the organization and the experiment, his messing with a single office building was just a very small part of a much bigger plot. In fact, it seems that his death was somewhat predicted, or at the very least desired; Mike’s true success in the eyes of his new observers is that he was able to keep “playing” even after his announced victory in the office. Presumably if he hadn't killed The Voice and the soldiers, he would have been eliminated.
Instead, he lives to be part of Stage 2, which essentially means that what we’ve watched is just the start, with the real test still to come on a larger scale - the whole movie was basically a selection process to find who to put in the next game. We’ve already had hints at a grand conspiracy or government coalition through the building’s design and international corporation at the film’s core, but this suggests that the group of demented, self-proclaimed geniuses are working on a New World Order level and really messing with people.
This is a pretty satisfying end point, fitting of the film’s constant wrong-footing of the characters, but can also serve as setup for a sequel should the movie prove a big enough success; we could have the various survivors brought together into a more extreme, battle-hardened showdown. Think Catching Fire to the first’s Battle Royale . It’s definitely possible; The Belko Experiment cost only $5 million to make, so it doesn’t need to be a mega-hit to still make a tidy profit, and turning successes into franchise is pretty much prouducer Blumhouse's business model. While at the moment Stage 2 is a fun coda, it may become more important as time goes on.
Work Politics And American Globalization
The Belko Experiment uses its blood-soaked narrative to explore several interesting themes relating to modern life. It doesn’t do it quite as incisively as it perhaps thinks it is – you can only imagine how much darker a Black Mirror version of this story would go – but James Gunn certainly takes some deep dives.
The core exploration is the in-universe purpose of the experiment, seeing how various people deal with extremely high-pressured situations. We see the full range of reactions from the Belko employees to their commands, with John C. McGinley's Wendell Dukes wanting to immediately give in to the violence, Mike trying to explicitly escape, Sean Gunn’s Marty going full paranoid theorist and most others slotting somewhere in the triangle they form. The weight of whether you actually can take another person's life - regardless of if you think you can - looms over the characters until human survival instincts kick-in; eventually, even pacifists are forced down the dark path, with Mike letting his anger burst through when he repeatedly pummels COO Barry's face in with a tape dispenser.
Through the framing of the violence, the film not only poses a classic question, but gives a commentary on how big business operates. Even Barry finds himself powerless in the face of the change instigated by higher ups, unable to command his workforce in the panic and struggling to step up the bat when it comes to enacting his heartless plans. The whole Belko front can even be read as a sadistic take on how faceless corporations can fundamentally mess with their employees lives, pushing them further and further thanks to the emotional distance a tiered management structure enables.
Alongside that there’s also an exploration of globalization. This is evident from the very start following the employees driving to work in their high-end cars through the poor town of Bogotá, Colombia and hammered home by their job; they’re relocated Americans working to relocate more for ostensibly financial purposes. At first it seems like the film is attempting to simply redress the balance by showing the inherent barbarism underlying western civilization, but the final reveal that the whole thing is being orchestrated by an international organization twists things to highlight how unavoidable and deep-set multi-national conglomarates are. The suggestion seems to be that, in the high annals of business, that borders and nationalities cease to be a barrier, and moral decency doesn't even exist.
Next: The Belko Experiment Review
Key release dates.
- The Belko Experiment
- SR Originals
The Belko Experiment
Jun 15 , 2016
Office workers are ordered to kill their co-workers in a horrific social experiment. The film made its premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to gross $11 million at the box office worldwide.
Leading up to the film's release, it was promoted through four claymation short films that replicated the tone and violence of the film.
#4194 movie
The Belko Experiment Cast
Tony Goldwyn, 64
Barry Norris
Adria Arjona, 32
Leandra Florez
Michael Rooker, 69
Josh Brener, 39
Keith McLure
Melonie Diaz, 40
Dany Wilkins
John C. McGinley, 65
Wendell Dukes
Gail Bean, 31
John Gallagher Jr., 40
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The Belko Experiment: Trailer 1
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The Belko Experiment is a 2016 American action psychological horror film directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn, ... The Belko Experiment was released alongside Beauty and the Beast and was projected to gross around $4 million in its opening weekend. [25] It made $305,000 from Thursday night previews and $1.5 million on its first day ...
The Belko Experiment: Directed by Greg McLean. With John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley. In a twisted social experiment, eighty Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company's intercom system to participate in a deadly game of kill or be killed.
Gross; Domestic: Mar 17, 2017: $4,137,230: $10,166,820: Europe, Middle East, and Africa. Area Release Date Opening Gross; ... The Belko Experiment (2016) In a twisted social experiment, eighty ...
The Belko Experiment offers a few moments of lurid fun for genre enthusiasts, ... Box Office (Gross USA) $10.2M. Runtime 1h 30m. Sound Mix Dolby Digital. Aspect Ratio Scope (2.35:1)
The Belko Experiment is opening in just 1,200 theaters and it looks like T2: Transpotting is opening in even fewer theaters, 5 to be exact. Because it is the only truly wide release of the week, it is the only choice for the target film in this week's box office prediction contest.
Is "'Battle Royale' in an office" too much of a gross-out? The Belko Experiment takes place in a Belko Industries office building based in Bogotá, Colombia, where one day steel walls jut up over ...
Our latest "Battle Royale in an (x)" on offer is the James Gunn/Greg McLean Project, The Belko Experiment. To some, wading through the splatter of ultraviolence to try and get the smatter of social commentary may be tedious, but personally, I love both aspects, so I'm on board. Final rating:★★★ - I personally recommend you give it a go.
The Belko Experiment. In a twisted social experiment, eighty Americans are locked in their high-rise corporate office in Bogotá, Colombia, and ordered by an unknown voice coming from the company ...
From there, The Belko Experiment could have either become one of two things. It could have been a satirical, hilariously gross film about the violent aspects of human nature, or it could have ...
The Belko Experiment is a 2016 American action psychological horror film directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn, who also produced the film with Peter Safran. It stars John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley, Melonie Diaz, Josh Brener, and Michael Rooker. The film follows eighty foreigners working abroad for ...
The Belko Experiment reviews: 'Gross-out' or 'gleefully disturbing'? ... James Gunn explains how he dreamed up extreme horror film The Belko Experiment. The Belko Experiment has a killer new trailer.
This makes a bloody, unpleasant series of murders the only reason to see "The Belko Experiment.". Director Greg McLean (" Wolf Creek," "Rogue") fails to distinguish himself during medium close-up shots of heads exploding and torsos flailing. But McLean's contributions to "The Belko Experiment" aren't what makes the film so ...
Roughly 65 minutes into a press screening of the 88-minute film The Belko Experiment, ... But Greg McLean's hyper-violent gross-out pushed me past the point of professional courtesy. I offer no ...
Unfortunately, what The Belko Experiment delivers in face-twisting gore and deliciously taut suspense, it lacks in insight. Gunn's high-concept script desperately wants to sprinkle a few nuggets of social criticism in between the exploding heads and Molotov cocktails, but the script can't find time to really delve into the office politics it thinks it's sending up.
The Belko Experiment innovatively combines the battle royale trope with the mundane setting of an office block.; The movie explores workplace hierarchy and human nature through intense action and ...
The Belko Experiment is a 2016 American action horror-thriller film directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn. The film stars John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley and Melonie Diaz. Filming began on June 1, 2015, in Bogotá, Colombia. The film premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016 and was released in the United States ...
The Belko Experiment is the latest small-budget horror film from Blumhouse, the studio behind genre hits like the Purge and Insidious franchises. Written by Guardians of the Galaxy helmsman James Gunn, the hope going in was that the film could operate as an entertaining thrill ride that provides the audience with some food for thought on the human condition.
Bogota, Colombia. Mike Milch (John Gallagher, Jr.) is on his way to work while driving down a crowded street. He is approached at his car by a man in town who offers him a figure made from an old corncob. Mike buys one from the man. Mike arrives at his job, Belko Industries. The company COO Barry Norris (Tony Goldwyn) pulls up to find armed ...
The Belko Experiment is a 2016 horror thriller film directed by Greg McLean and written and produced by James Gunn.Its premise has been summarized as "Office Space meets Battle Royale".The film revolves around Belko Industries, a non-profit organization that facilitates American companies in South America. 80 Americans work abroad for the company at a building in Bogotá, Colombia, doing what ...
The Belko Experiment uses its blood-soaked narrative to explore several interesting themes relating to modern life. It doesn't do it quite as incisively as it perhaps thinks it is - you can only imagine how much darker a Black Mirror version of this story would go - but James Gunn certainly takes some deep dives.. The core exploration is the in-universe purpose of the experiment, seeing ...
The Belko Experiment About. Office workers are ordered to kill their co-workers in a horrific social experiment. The film made its premiere at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival and went on to gross $11 million at the box office worldwide. Trivia ...
An ordinary day at the office becomes a horrific quest for survival when 80 employees (John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona) at the Belko Corp. in Bogotá, Colombia, learn that they are ...