Posted on: March 4, 2020 Posted by: Zuzanna Fudala Comments: 0

Zuzanna Fudala
Features Editor

One chance to have your deepest dream come true, to fix your greatest regret, or even fulfil a long overdue payback; what risks would you accept to fulfil your greatest fantasy? In Blumhouse’s Fantasy Island, we follow five characters as they fulfil their fantasies only to realize that the things that we want the most don’t always come with a happy ending.
Fantasy Island is directed and co-written by Jeff Wadlow and produced by Jason Blum and is based on the 1978 TV series of the same name. The film is a rated PG-13 supernatural/thriller/suspense and was released on February 14, 2020. 
Five contestants win a trip to a beautiful tropical resort that is run by host, Mr. Roarke. Known as Fantasy Island, the host informs the contestants that the island lets people’s fantasies come true. However, each person is limited to one fantasy and they must see it through to its conclusion. At first the contestants seem to enjoy their fantasies under the impression that everything is fake, however things end up taking a dark turn before the contestants realize that maybe fantasies are best left as fantasies and not reality.
As interesting as the trailer seemed to be, the film didn’t exceed my expectations and I was somewhat disappointed with it. There were some poor character developments and plot holes within the film that could have been done differently. Furthermore, I felt that the trailer exceeded the expectation of not only the suspense of the film, but the film in general. However, since the film is rated PG-13, there are certain limitations, especially in regards to horror depictions, and restrictions before a film is regarded as rated R. 
There were some aspects of the film that I liked; the casting was an amazing choice, the music was well-done and unique to any other adventure/suspense films that I have seen, and the overall making of the film from the island location in creating the fantasies, as well as grizzly special effects, were amazing to the point where, had this film been rated R it, would have been magnificent.
Fantasy Island is a pretty decent film, however certain plot holes could have really been thought out better to do the film a bit more justice. Not only that but since the film is based off of the 1970’s TV series, I think that if the film had stuck to following certain aspects from the series, especially in regards to the enigmatic Mr. Roarke and maintaining the mystery of his origin, the film would have been done a bit more justice. 

Zuzanna Fudala can be contacted at fudalaz@student.morainevalley.edu.