Movie Review: Into The Lion's Den (2011)

Screeners from Breaking Glass Pictures generally have a genre printed across them. The screener for Into The Lion's Den said "gay suspense." I wasn't sure what that would mean, but I had expectations. Indie films that focus on gay characters tend to be about the characters dealing with their sexuality or dating and there will be a penis every twenty-seven minutes. It's just the way it is. Like most indie dramas, they are brimming with pretentiousness and usually try to force some ham-fisted point down your throat. This movie starts that way, but takes a turn you don't expect.

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We start with three friends. Two of them are right out of the book of indie cliche. You have the troublemaker party boy and his prudish and cranky best friend who is tired of the excitement. The third is a guy who never had an adventure. That, as you can predict, is about to change. The trio is on a road trip to New York City, and they make one stop too many on the way there.

Party guy is looking for sex on a phone app, and he sets up a rendezvous with a local at a dive country bar. After a seemingly wasted night and a fight with his buddies, he finally discovers his suitor. Once this happens, we start to veer into Hostel territory, but on a sexual fetish level. It quickly gets bloody, and it does have a good stretch of action.

Into The Lion's Den almost made it out without diving back into indie bullshit, but it just can't help itself. We see a cheesy shot at the end with a silly voice over about lost innocence. So close. Oh, well. It's not the worst thing you could watch, but it has its faults. Don't expect Oscar caliber, although that standard seems to be quite low at this point, so maybe it deserves a golden statue for high-and-mightiness. You never know.