Wrong Place, Wrong Time is a weird film. At first, you think it is going to be a heist film. But, then after twenty minutes, it shifts to a horror film. This genre shift is nothing new for director and screenwriter Tristian Price, who is making a name for himself in indie filmmaking. However, this could have used more people as there are glaring issues with this film.
The main plot of Wrong Place, Wrong Time (2021)
From the get-go, this film spares no expense on bloody effects. The film begins with a shootout. Our wonderful characters (we’ll get to them later) have just committed a bank robbery and are in the middle of a shootout with the FBI. These are meant to be mercenaries with military training … and they are just shooting away, not reaching for cover or anything like that. The next 20 minutes of the film is building up to the big heist. The makeshift crew consistently empathizes the importance of this heist as 14 million dollars is at stake. That and multiple governments and underground bosses want their heads.
Of course, things go wrong! What exactly happens? Well, we don’t know. We don’t get to see the actual heist. Instead, we get flashes of various characters with a smeared filter of red covering the lens like a bad video game. This is a creative way to speed up the process of the film, but the red sometimes gets in the way of us seeing anything. After the botched heist, the gang ends up in a countryside house to steal supplies and help a critically injured member. Yeah, that was not a good idea!
The plot then follows each of the members trying to (a) figure out a way to escape, (b) find the monster that is currently roaming the house, and (c) somehow make it with some money to a new country. Something tells me this is not going to happen because, after a dozen boring conversations, it’s revealed that Luther (head of the house) is a vampire! Guess who’s at the dinner table. Let’s not also forget there’s this mysterious girl named Natasha who turns out to be Botero, the very gangster these mercenaries stole money from in the first place. There’s also the aspect of betrayal as one mercenary turns on the others.
The film ends with only one character (Sage) surviving and ending up in Mexico, looking like she came straight out of the pages of a Shōnen manga. She even wields a katana with a long trench coat!
Characters of Wrong Place, Wrong Time (2021)
The film features a small cast. The main cast features 5 mercenaries, each playing an archetype. Solomon (played by Alex Ryan Brown) is the kindest of them all, trying to help a child who just witnessed his mother’s death through the shootout. There’s Gabriel (played by Mike Markoff), who kills at the sound of ragged breathing and whose dialogue is a cheap knockoff of Shakespeare. Sage (credited as Franziska Schissler (now going as Audrey Rode)) is the badass female who always has a cool head, even when facing the FX of this film. Kira (played by Olivia Rivera) is … there. James (played by Chase Garland) is, pardon the language, an asshole. That’s his whole personality. None of these characters are likable. Even Solomon is an ass and just turns into a thug. They become even more unlikeable because of the dialogue. The dialogue makes no sense at times and makes these guys seem like idiots.
The cast of the film is upcoming actors. Many of them are just starting out in the acting business or have a few credentials to their name. After watching the film, only two actors really left an impression on me. Timothy McKinney is the creepy head vampire Luther. This guy oozes creepiness through the screen. Bianca Stein also does a good job portraying both a scared and then mastermind through Natasha.
Part 3: Release information of Wrong Place, Wrong Time (2021)
Wrong Place, Wrong Time was released by Uncork’d Entertainment on both DVD and streaming services on May 4th, 2021. Running for 85 minutes (1 hr 25 minutes), you can easily find this film on Amazon Prime and it is included with Prime Membership.
As part of the marketing campaign, the official trailer was released on the 8th April 2021 on the BritFlicks YouTube Channel. You can watch the official trailer HERE. In the trailer, it mainly focuses on the heist, only showing glimpses of the horror scenes until the final 45 seconds. With the over-the-top music in the background, you won’t forget it (mainly because the annoying beat cements itself in your head so you can’t forget it.)
Figure 3: Wrong Place, Wrong Time film – Use of Practical effects in a gunfight- Image found on HorrorBuzz
Part 4: Reviews of Wrong Place, Wrong Time (2021)
Reviews of Wrong Place, and Wrong Time are mixed. The average on IMDb is 3.7/10. Some of these reviews are harsh. One reviewer complained both they and their family lost brain cells from watching this film. Others were not that harsh. Some complimented the change in genre and the horror aspects.
After watching the film, I can say this. There were some genius moments of editing and camera angles. Using the body camera footage from the officer to convey her death by the supernatural was something I have never seen before. The house is creepy, for a few seconds it is silent. The use of practical effects, like in the action montage, is a good throwback to 80’s action flicks. The costumes, makeup, and FX for the monsters are easily the best part of this film.
However, the plot makes no sense and drags on. The characters are dull and the editing is so over the top. I’ve watched this film twice. I have no idea what half the film is about. There is so much potential for Wrong Place, Wrong Time if it was just rewritten to be shorter and had character depth. It’s hard to be scared when the characters themselves are more bothered by the horror than scared themselves. Overall, as an amateur horror watcher, I can’t recommend this film.
 was advertised from the jump as an action thriller mixed with horror. Some have even stated it is a mix between SWAT action and Resident Evil-inspired horror.){kind=link}