Fantasy Island wants to be a haunted house, a mystery thriller, and a morality play about wish fulfillment all at once. It mostly succeeds at none of those things. The 2020 film, directed by Jeff Wadlow and co-written with Jillian Jacobs and Christopher Roach, is a prequel to the 1977 ABC series of the same name. It follows a group of contest winners who arrive at an island hotel to live out their dreams, only to find themselves trapped in nightmare scenarios. The tagline sums it up: “Anything you desire. Everything you fear.”
The setup is simple. Five people — businesswoman Gwen Olsen, former police officer Patrick Sullivan, stepbrothers J. D. and Brax Weaver, and teenager Melanie Cole — arrive at Fantasy Island, a tropical resort where fantasies apparently come true. Mr. Roarke, played by Michael Peña, guides them to their fantasies: Patrick enlists in a war to honor his late father; Melanie takes revenge on her childhood bully Sloane Maddison; the Weavers become honored guests at a mansion rave; and Gwen accepts her ex-boyfriend Allen Chambers’ marriage proposal. Melanie eventually learns that Sloane was kidnapped and brought to Fantasy Island against her will. She saves her from a masked surgeon and both run away.
The film is best when it commits to horror. The masked surgeon, the drug cartel, and the revelation that the fantasies are created by spring water under a glowing rock in a cave all give the movie a sense of dread. Damon, the private investigator, is a standout performance from Michael Rooker. He explains that Roarke offered him to see his deceased daughter, but the fantasy turned into a nightmare that trapped him on the island. That twist gives the story a genuine emotional core, even if the execution around it is shaky.
Where the film stumbles is in its tone. It keeps shifting between campy humor and straight horror, and the transitions rarely land. The mansion rave scene, in particular, feels like a parody of itself. The performances suffer from this tonal whiplash. Maggie Q as Gwen Olsen and Lucy Hale as Melanie Cole are competent, but they are asked to sell a mix of terror and glee that rarely works. The supporting cast — Austin Stowell as Patrick Sullivan, Jimmy O. Yang as Brax Weaver, Portia Doubleday as Sloane Maddison, Charlotte McKinney as Chastity, Ryan Hansen as J. D. Weaver, Mike Vogel as Lieutenant Sullivan, Parisa Fitz-Henley as Julia, and Kim Coates as Devil Face — fills out the story competently, but they are largely background noise.
The film is a financial success. It grossed $49 million worldwide against its $7 million production budget. That number tells you everything you need to know about its quality. It was a cheap bet that paid off.
The film’s worst flaw is its lack of stakes. The guests are trapped on an island, but the film never makes us feel like they are truly in danger. The nightmare scenarios are unpleasant, but they are more cartoonish than genuinely scary. The final act, where the trio collects spring water and heads back to the resort for help, is rushed and anticlimactic.
Here is how the film’s elements rank:
- The horror concept — the fantasy-is-nightmare twist — is the strongest part of the movie.
- Damon’s backstory and Michael Rooker’s performance elevate the film’s emotional weight.
- The mansion rave scene is the weakest link, playing like a parody of itself.
- The overall tone shifts between horror, comedy, and drama without ever settling.
- The ending fails to deliver a satisfying resolution.
Fantasy Island is a middling entry in a genre it clearly loves. It has a solid premise and a few strong performances, but it never fully commits to the scares it promises. It is a film that knows its audience wants to be scared, but it is too afraid to scare them. The result is a movie that is more forgettable than frightening.
Trailer, via Sony Pictures Entertainment.
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