Sometimes, you see a movie that completely changes your perspective on cinema as a medium. The first film to have that drastic of an effect on me was Inception. I had never realized that films could be more than just mindless entertainment or that they could serve thematic purposes until I happened on it by chance while scrolling through Netflix. After that, I became obsessed with cinema. This wondrous, baffling art form enabled the dreams of so many creators to come to life and be shared by the world. But today, I witnessed a new film that completely recontextualized my entire perception of cinema. Today, I saw Unfavorable Odds.

I’m sure you must be wondering what could possibly be so special about a film that you have never heard of. Is it the plot? No. Unfavorable Odds is merely a movie about a neglectful husband who bets that his womanizing friend will be unable to seduce his wife. Sure, it’s inherently sexist and unoriginal. But this applies to countless films that could only dream of being half as revolutionary as this. Could it be its acting? As if! The acting might be the best part of this film, but it’s still choppy and unnatural. Now, what truly sets Unfavorable Odds apart from every other film that I have seen is the fact that it simply refuses to be a film.

When you watch a film, you automatically have expectations. Even if you haven’t seen its trailer or know nothing about it aside from the title, you subconsciously assume a few things about it as you sit down. You expect that you will be able to hear a film consistently. When a character opens their mouth, one should be able to hear them. You expect direction with some sort of purpose. Even in your average Netflix romcom, there is a method to the way each scene is executed (with the blocking, camera movement, and music). Most of all, you expect the film to have a flow. Even bad movies usually have a cohesive, understandable plot thanks to their editing. However, Unfavorable Odds subverts all of these with ease, creating a horrifying amalgamation of poorly shot scenes held together by something that only marginally resembles a narrative. While I was prepared for an experience the moment I saw the words “Directed by BoogieVision” appear after the title card, I did not anticipate anything of this proportion (nor did I think I would watch a film that used meme soundtracks to back each scene). Yes, my dear reader, Unfavorable Odds is that bad.

The writing of Unfavorable Odds is fairly horrendous. The basic premise alone is deeply unoriginal, but it’s the execution that kills any hope of redemption for this film plot-wise. The story is sexist by nature, but the escalation (since every “romance” that revolves around a bet has to increase in tension) is truly baffling. It gets downright nonsensical at points, but the characters are so unlikable that it’s not even enjoyable to watch unfold. The dialogue feels incredibly pointed and artificial. The characterization is painfully minimal, as it’s clear the writers just thought of archetypes and assigned names to them when creating these “characters.” Everything about the screenplay feels like a first draft. 

While the acting can also be quite incompetent at times, it’s also by far the best part of the film. The performance by our lead is particularly entertaining, as his absurd physical comedy kept the film slightly afloat. His expressions are priceless, even as he delivers terrible lines robotically. The rest of the cast also has somewhat stale delivery, but they make the most out of the awful script by overdoing the physicality of their performances. 

Although this review may seem scathing, I am quite grateful I decided to see Unfavorable Odds. While I knew about all of the different technical elements that went into creating a film, I was never acutely aware of each individual aspect’s importance until I watched this revelatory work. Its complete incompetence in nearly every single capacity helped highlight, for instance, how important a fitting score is to creating the tone for each scene. So, at the end of the day, even though Unfavorable Odds was undoubtedly the worst film I saw this year, I am unbelievably glad I witnessed it.

1/10