Swipe left. swipe right. I’m sure many of you who use or have used dating apps are familiar with the world of swiping, but one dating agency you don’t want to get involved with is the Soul Mates dating agency who promise you ‘Where The One Is One Swipe Away’  I checked out Soul Mates, from director Mark Gantt (The Surrogate), and from writers Chris LaMont (The Locksmith, Hard Kill) and Joe Russo (The Locksmith, Hard Kill) comes this tale of Allison and Jason who wake to find themselves not only trapped in the same room,but find themselves shackled together by steel chains and cuffs. A rom-com this film isn’t!

There will of course be review comparisons between Soul Mates and the Saw franchise and whilst some of those comparisons might make sense and be a little justified, once you get to the end of the film, you will see that Soul Mates does stand on its own and is its own entity and far from another Saw imitator. For me Soul Mates reminded me of the same feel I got for perhaps the first Saw film (back in 2004) and also for films like Cube, and Meander (2020) in which we’re introduced to characters trapped in a maze like world and they have to spend some time trying to get out alive, with Soul Mates, Allison and Jason are trapped pretty much in a actual maze of games and scenarios, and yes most of them are pretty brutal and not the sort of thing first dates should be made of.

The cast is pretty minimal and whilst the focus of the film is on Allison and Jason, we are also given some time with the man behind the insane games, perfectly named ‘The Matchmaker’ played by Neal McDonough (Minority Report, Boomtown) who is always a joy and super creepy to see onscreen as he plays his game of puppet mastering with peoples lives. Annie Ilonzeh as Allison, and Charlie Weber as Jason are great in their roles and pretty much carry the acting of the film on their shoulders, with them being the two characters that are on screen the most, and they do it wonderfully.  They have chemistry and thankfully Soul Mates the story and Soul Mates the film doesn’t feel the need to have Charlie be the strong hero who has to rescue damsel in distress Allison, shes definitely the stronger character out of the two and Annie plays that wonderfully too.

Once again writers Chris LaMont and Joe Russo (credited as Joseph S Russo in the titles) have crafted a great story that has been turned into a really interesting film. Its quirky, its brutal when it needs to be, and in one scene that involves cooking- it’ll turn your stomach if you think about it too much.  Over the past few years I have seen several films written by Joe and Chris and have enjoyed them all (The Au Pair Nightmare, Hard Kill, The Locksmith, Be Mine). These two writers love what they do and really know how to do it well and that shows in the stories they create. Nice work Chris and Joe and of course to Soul Mates director Mark Gantt who along with the rest of the crew and cast have done a great job with Soul Mates. There is one aspect of the film that I really want to praise but I cant and wont because it will spoil some plot details, but once you’ve seen the full film and the credits have begun. Think about what you have just seen and give it a round of a applause for taking a chance and succeeding with it.  (Yes i know most of you wont know what I’m referring to, but I do) 

So if you fancy checking out a non franchise/remake/reboot horror film that will keep you very much entertained and deliver enough guts, gore, and ‘what would i do in that situation’ puzzles for you to think about. I do recommend Soul Mates.  Treat yourself for 90 mins. I did and I got out alive!