Review: 'Self Reliance' a funny thriller

Four out of Five Stars

By Alexandra McCluskey
Staff Writer

“Self Reliance,” starring well-known actors Jake Johnson (“New Girl”) and Anna Kendrick (“Pitch Perfect”), is a 2023 film that follows Tommy (played by Johnson) involved in a dangerous $1 million game he entered into out of boredom.

The movie is currently available for streaming on Hulu.

The game requires Tommy to stay alive for 30 days as hunters all around the world are out to kill him. A week passes without incident and Tommy begins to believe the game was made up. Then he wakes one night to find a shadowy figure in a cowboy get-up outside his bedroom window with a gun.

Once in the safety of company, Tommy remembers the one important rule of the game; the hunters can only attack him when he’s alone. Attaching himself to family members, things go south when they don’t believe him.

As the story unfolds, Jake Johnson brings his characteristic wit and humor into his character, making for an entertaining ride of a movie.

When Johnson’s character, Tommy believes all hope is lost, he gets a message from Maddy (played by Kendrick), a woman who is going through the same thing.

Tommy and Maddy get to know one another as they agree to not leave each other’s side for the remainder of the 30-day period. As the plot unfolds, they discover the true message behind the elaborate game and secrets unfold between the pair.

Overall, the movie was decently done. It was directed by Jake Johnson himself. It brought out themes of mental health with his character Tommy, and ultimately how to overcome fear.

With a 72-percent rating from Rotten Tomatoes, I’d say this movie is more than worth the watch. It is an entertaining hour and a half, filled with giggling humor and edge-of-your-seat thriller moments.