As someone who loves a good puzzle, and who has completed an escape room or two, I have to admit that the idea of turning the concept into a saw-inspired horror flick is something that really appealed to me, so when Adam Robitel’s Escape Room came out of our lucky dip box, I’ll admit, I was intrigued.

Studious and shy, Zoey is timid and afraid to speak out in public whereas the high-achieving stockbroker Jason is confident and charismatic, winning at life. Mike is a retired miner and Amanda is a war veteran suffering from PTSD. Ben is a chain smoking stock boy who can’t get a promotion and Danny is a highly excitable escape room enthusiast.

These six stranger, with one thing in common, are given mysterious puzzle boxes inviting them to take part in the world’s most immersive escape room game, with a grand prize of $10,000 up for grabs. It doesn’t take long for them to realise that to fail the game means to die and they must work together to uncover the clues that will mean their survival.

Other than a rather weird directorial decision regarding the use of a not-so-subtle flash forward as the film’s opener, the story moves along at a nice pace that makes full use of its 90 minute runtime. Although the characters are guilty of the same poor decision making and childish name-calling that is pretty much a prerequisite for the horror genre, they are likeable enough to root for and the performances of the cast were solid.

For a film that has the distinct air of a solid B movie, and I mean that as a compliment, the set design was impressive, with each room excellently styled and tailored to portray each players back story. In all honesty, if this was a real life escape room – sans death, obviously – then I’d be rushing to take part, dragging the hubby along behind me.

Unlike similar films and franchises, there is not a huge amount of gore or bloodshed and most of the violence is implied, and with only a PG-13 rating Escape Room is a great gateway film for those of you looking to introduce your tweenagers to the genre.

It may be difficult for some to get over the similarities to the Saw franchise, especially the film’s closing line – “Let’s play again” – but where some may see Escape Room as a blatant rip off, others may feel that imitation is the sincerest form of flattery. Personally, I didn’t mind it too much. Is it groundbreaking? No. Is it genre defining? No. Is it an easy and enjoyable way to pass the time? Definitely.

Escape Room is available to stream on Netflix.