Murder Bury Win (2020)

(On TV, June 2022) I’m not into board games, but I know people who really, really are and it’s been interesting to see the evolution of that market into a mini-industry of passionate creators, crowdfunding projects, exquisitely well-designed games and original concepts that are (to me, anyway) as much fun to read about as to play. Over time, it’s a given that there will be a movie about everything, so there’s some interest in seeing little-known comedy/thriller Murder Bury Win revolve around three game designers trying to bring their game to market, and having a fateful meeting with a well-known authority in the field. Things don’t quite go as planned, however, and before long our protagonists have to put their murder cover-up expertise in play. As far as specialized interests guiding the premise go, Murder Bury Win plunges us into an accessible version of the board game universe lingo, structuring its plot to incorporate as many winks as possible to board game design. The rest of the film, on the other hand, is about as bland and ordinary as it comes. Obviously a low-budget production without enough ideas to sustain a full 90 minutes, the film delivers without exceeding the strictly required minimum, and can’t quite depend on gifted actors or director. This being said, not exceeding basic expectations isn’t necessarily a problem – a far more serious issue is Murder Bury Win’s tonal mismatch. Black comedy is tricky even for top writers, but there’s a sense here that writer-director Michael Lovan doesn’t quite know when to push and when to hold back, reflecting very poorly on the “protagonists” when they turn on each other and transform a relatively innocuous comedy into something far more sombre. Too bad, because I enjoyed the glimpse at the board game universe: I just would have liked the fundamentals of the film to be more successful.