Review: ‘Pledge’, Some Clubs May Not Be Worth Joining
It’s been a little while since we’ve had a movie about the horrors of pledging a fraternity and Pledge is here to scratch that itch. Pledge begins following the exploits of David (Zack Weiner who also wrote the film), Ethan (Phillip Andre Botello), and Justin (Zachery Byrd) – three college students trying to rush different fraternities. The three of them… to put it gently… aren’t the cream of the crop. They get rejected from fraternity after fraternity, mostly in humiliating fashion before an attractive girl invites them to a party that night. It was an opportunity they couldn’t pass up – so even though the address led them to a creepy gate they had to jump over, and on a mini hike before finally getting to the house, they took advantage of it. What awaited them was the night of their lives – drinking, drugs, girls, and most of all – inclusion and a sense of belonging from some much cooler kids than themselves. The three brothers of the club – Max (Aaron Dalla Villa), Ricky (Cameron Cowperthwaite), and Bret (Jesse Pimentel) – seem nice enough; although there are some weird aggressive interactions, but not enough to keep David and his friends from coming back the next night to pledge. The three of them, plus two others in their pledge class Ben (Joe Gallagher) and Sam (Jean-Louis Droulers), show up to the house and almost immediately things take a sinister turn. Max, Rickie, and Bret drop their nice guy facade as the pledge process begins – the question is how much can the five new pledges endure, and is it worth it?
Rating: 2.5 out of 5