''Backgammon'' is an

erotic Eroticism () is a quality that causes sexual feelings, as well as a philosophical contemplation concerning the aesthetics of sexual desire, sensuality, and romantic love. That quality may be found in any form of artwork, including painting, sculp ...

mystery Mystery, The Mystery, Mysteries or The Mysteries may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Fictional characters *Mystery, a cat character in ''Emily the Strange'' *Mystery, a seahorse that SpongeBob SquarePants adopts in the episode " My Pre ...

film, directed and co-written by Francisco Orvañanos.

Synopsis

Young couple Lucian and Elizabeth arrive at their college friend Andrew's isolated mansion to spend the weekend. Andrew's sister, Miranda, and her boyfriend Gerald, an artist, are also there. Miranda is a playful and seductive character while Gerald enjoys antagonising the others, while frequently arguing with Miranda. After Gerald challenges Lucian to a game of poker and Gerald loses his possessions, Miranda throws Gerald out, and Lucian must come to terms with his increasing animal attraction to her. Gerald, meanwhile, never truly leaves, but prowls about the grounds laying traps for Lucian.

Cast

Brittany Allen Brittany Allen (born February 5, 1986) is a Canadian actress. Her first notable role was as Marissa Chandler on ''All My Children'' from 2009 to 2010, for which she received a Daytime Emmy Award for Outstanding Younger Actress in 2011. In later ...

as Miranda * Noah Silver as Lucian * Alex Beh as Gerald * Olivia Crocicchia as Elizabeth * Christian Alexander as Andrew

Background

The film is based on the 2009 novella ''Bloody Baudelaire'' by

R. B. Russell Ray B. Russell is an English publisher, editor, author, illustrator, songwriter, and film maker. Biography Russell runs the award-winning Tartarus Press with Rosalie Parker, and for many years compiled the ''Guide to First Edition Prices''. ...

. The screenplay was written by Todd Niemi, R. B. Russell and Francisco Orvañanos, who also co-produced the film with Chris Moore. The film stars

and Noah Silver. Also appearing in the film are Alex Beh, Christian Alexander and Olivia Crocicchia. Filmed in the summer of 2012 in

Cape Elizabeth, Maine Cape Elizabeth is a New England town, town in Cumberland County, Maine, Cumberland County, Maine, United States. The town is part of the Portland, Maine, Portland–South Portland, Maine, South Portland–Biddeford, Maine, Biddeford, Ma ...

, ''Backgammon'' premiered at the

Sarasota Film Festival The Sarasota Film Festival is a film festival located in Sarasota, Florida and held in April. Its mission is "to celebrate the art of filmmaking and the contribution of filmmakers by hosting an international film festival and developing year-long ...

on April 17, 2015. In that same year it was also an official selection of both the

Denver Film Festival The Denver Film Festival is held in November, primarily at the Denver Film Center/Colfax, in Denver, Colorado, now the Anna and John J. Sie FilmCenter (Sie FilmCenter). Premiere events are held in the Buell Theatre and Ellie Caulkins Opera House ...

and the St. Louis International Film Festival. In 2016 Backgammon was released theatrically on March 11 in Los Angeles and New York, and in Denver on March 25.

Reception

The film has received generally unfavorable reviews from critics. On

Rotten Tomatoes Rotten Tomatoes is an American review aggregator, review-aggregation website for film and television. The company was launched in August 1998 by three undergraduate students at the University of California, Berkeley: Senh Duong, Patrick Y. Lee ...

it has a 0% approval rating, based on 6 reviews with an average rating of 2.4/10. On

Metacritic Metacritic is an American website that aggregates reviews of films, television shows, music albums, video games, and formerly books. For each product, the scores from each review are averaged (a weighted average). Metacritic was created ...

it has a score of 22% based on reviews from 5 critics.

References

External links

* * * * {{Metacritic film 2015 films 2015 psychological thriller films American psychological drama films Films based on British novels Films set in country houses 2010s English-language films 2010s American films Backgammon Films about games English-language thriller films