Truth or Dare Parent Guide

Playing a game of “Truth or Dare” during spring break (does anything good ever happen in movies during spring break?) a group of friends end up in a deadly exchange that is blamed on a spiritual force. In reality, the script is just an excuse to portray suicides, violence and sex because “the devil made me do it!”. And although the cast depicts “college students”, the film is a heat seeking missile targeting teens with characters who act like middle-schoolers and are played by photogenic TV stars many adults won’t recognize.

Olivia (Lucy Hale) is a nice, responsible and smart brunette. To prove she’s not worthy of the horrors to come, she’s set on volunteering for Habitat for Humanity during her week off. But her besty, a blonde named Markie (Violett Beane—who had to bleach her hair to follow the color coding stereotype), is her live-for-the-moment, shoulder devil. After insisting Olivia must, must come with her to Mexico for the holiday, she even paves the way by somehow canceling Olivia’s commitment to the charity.

Is that what friends are for?

With the rest of her buds waiting impatiently in the car, Olivia makes like a lemming and follows them south. We already know many of the members of this crew are “throwaways,” to be picked off one-by-one by the evil antagonist. The exception is Markie’s crush Lucas (Tyler Posey), who is obviously about to become the wedge between these young ladies.

The plot starts with a drunken pub night. Olivia shuns the stupidity of her friends and meets a more serious stranger sitting alone at the bar. Carter (Landon Liboiron) is soooo nice and sensible it’s no wonder Oliva bites hook, line and sinker when he suggests they take this party elsewhere. With the gang in tow, they head into the Mexican night, cut through a fence with a big warning sign in Spanish (which should have been an obvious no-go) and wander into a crumbling old monastery. And now, says Carter, let’s play “Truth or Dare.”

Of course the game is going to have drastic real-world consequences, and the challenges are not controlled by the participants. Instead an evil spirit overtakes each player and all are forced to take a turn. Truths involve deeply personal and emotional revelations, and dares are a combination of highly dangerous, illegal, sexual and violent actions.

Using the typically malevolent game, the story creates scenarios that would be unthinkable in any other circumstance. Physical harm toward others, self-inflicted wounds and deaths are had with guns, knives and other objects. Audiences with sensitivities for portrayals of suicide should be especially cautious.

Characters are forced to have sex (which we see in more detail than necessary – including some brief female side nudity), streak (rear male nudity) and make out together (a “bi-curious” female with a non-willing female). Added to this are other sexual discussions with a penchant toward non-committal relationships involving all genders.

Perhaps the best message we can extract from Truth or Dare is its exploration of honesty between friends. Yet you can find similar messages in far better media than this excuse for teen entertainment.

About author

Rod Gustafson

Rod Gustafson has worked in various media industries since 1977. He founded Parent Previews in 1993, and today continues to write and broadcast the reviews in newspapers, on radio and (of course) on the Internet. His efforts also include writing and researching media in all its forms and observing how it effects society and culture. He and his wife Donna have four children.