Julia watches a cursed videotape, and the world ends for everyone around her. That’s the premise of “Rings,” the 2017 sequel that tried to reset the franchise’s rules while leaning on the same old tricks. It doesn’t work. The film is a mess of plot threads, a weak villain, and a twist that feels less like a surprise and more like a shrug.
Trailer, via Paramount Pictures International.
Julia’s Curse
Matilda Lutz plays Julia, a young woman who discovers her boyfriend Holt has watched the cursed videotape. She sacrifices herself to save him, and in doing so makes a horrifying discovery: there is a “movie within the movie” that no one has ever seen before. The setup is clever, but the execution is lazy. Julia’s sacrifice happens early, and the film spends the rest of its runtime chasing a mystery that never quite arrives.
Alex Roe plays Holt, and Johnny Galecki shows up as Gabriel Brown, a college professor who stumbles across the tape. Aimee Teegarden is Skye Johnston, and Vincent D’Onofrio plays Galen Burke. The cast is fine, but none of them get enough screen time to leave a mark.
The Seven Days Rule
The central mechanic is simple: watch the tape, die in seven days. The film borrows this from the earlier movies, but it fails to build any tension around it. Characters drop dead without warning, and the countdown feels arbitrary rather than threatening. There’s no sense of dread, no mounting fear. Just bodies piling up.
What Went Wrong
The biggest problem is the film’s refusal to commit to its own rules. It introduces a new mythology — the “movie within the movie” — but never explains what it means. The twist at the end, where Julia’s version of the tape cannot be copied, is a nice idea. It’s just poorly executed. The reveal feels rushed, underexplained, and ultimately hollow.
The film also suffers from a poor pacing. The first half drags through setup, the middle slogs through exposition, and the final act rushes to a conclusion that feels like a shrug. There’s no sense of escalation, no build toward a climax. The ending just stops.
The Verdict
“Rings” is a failure on nearly every level. It wastes a promising premise, a talented cast, and a decade of built-up mythology. The script is loose, the direction is flat, and the scares are forgettable. The film is a cash grab, and it shows.
- The premise is strong, but the execution is weak.
- The cast is fine, but underused.
- The twist is clever, but poorly explained.
- The pacing is uneven, with a slow setup and a rushed finale.
“Rings” is a disappointment, and not just for fans of the original films. It’s a disappointment for anyone who wants a horror movie with stakes, tension, and a payoff. The film fails to deliver on any of those fronts.
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