A kindred spirit to Jumanji, this film is centred on a supernatural board game its four protagonists must win before sunrise to avoid being trapped for all eternity playing it. It’s to director Alberto Belli’s credit that his comedy drums up a sizeable proportion of the 1995 film’s fun on a fraction of the budget. Decidedly only for players aged 16 and above, like all great board games Gatlopp gives a vague impression of imparting significant life wisdom, but actually is mostly concerned with making sure everyone has as good a time as possible.
After his wife cheats on him, Los Angeleno Paul (Jim Mahoney) is finalising his divorce and moving into temporary digs chez bestie Cliff (Jon Bass). Wanting to cheer his pal up, Cliff invites their old running buddies Sam (Emmy Raver-Lampman), a bulldozing producer, and her ex Troy (Sarunas J Jackson), an actor treading water on the circuit. The group’s old chemistry is sputtering - so Cliff suggests they break out Gatlopp (“gauntlet” in Swedish), a dusty old entertainment he found in the drawer of his secondhand credenza and to which he cannot find a single internet reference. Pretty soon, Cliff has an arrow through his leg for fibbing in a challenge, and the foursome realise they’re playing something more hardcore than Monopoly.
The script, by Mahoney, peppily sets out the players and revels in their catty rapport; especially clued into the snakes and ladders of LA social life, he gives Paul a magnificently dead-eyed, cynical rant about Hollywood arrivisme to the buyers of his new house. It’s a pity then, with these urbanite squabblers trapped in this sardonic challenge, that the film finally walks them down a moralistic track: a tale of secret infidelity and lessons in self-knowledge. But Belli’s supple direction – reminiscent of Edgar Wright’s pop’n’snap – keeps its energy levels high as it roves around the living room that is its main location; it also exults in the occasional set-piece, such as the players’ Jazzercise routine. There aren’t quite enough of these zany segues, but with a larger budget, you can smell the franchise potential here.
• Gatlopp: Hell of a Game is available on digital platforms on 27 June.
