Ring Ring (2019) – Film Review
Although movie databases and streaming sites often classify Ring Ring as a horror film, anyone who chooses to watch it on that premise is likely to be disappointed. It may scrape through as a black comedy but the first half of the film is more about trying to get laughs than sending cold shivers up anyone’s spine.
Ring Ring begins by introducing a team of telemarketing workers and, although the main characters have a good rapport, early indications suggest the firm they work for has an unusually high staff turnover.
Telemarketing is not a great job at the best of times because most people don’t appreciate it when they receive cold calls from strangers trying to sell them goods or services they probably don’t want. However, the site manager, Mr. Daniels, has a nasty temper, a fact that is unlikely to encourage new workers to hang around.
Mr Daniels is played by Lou Ferrigno, who became popular in the 1970s for his role in the bodybuilding film, Pumping Iron and rose to greater prominence due to his role as The Incredible Hulk. Ferrigno was also Ring Ring’s executive producer.
When Daniels calls the team into his office and tells them that, through no fault of their own, the management has decided to close the office and make them all redundant, it sets the stage for funnier and darker moments to come.
One of the workers, Will (Malcolm Goodwin), comes up with a plan to steal a copy of the company’s prospective client list and, when he shares his idea with his colleagues Amber (Kirby Bliss Blanton) and Jason (Josh Zuckerman), they agree to come on board.
After Jason provides him with Daniel’s computer password, Will sneaks into the manager’s office to access his computer while he has popped out to pick up a sandwich. Meanwhile, Amber keeps watch, ready to sound the alarm when she sees their boss heading back.
With time running out, Will finds he is unable to print a hard copy of the list so pulls out his phone and takes pictures of the screen instead.
After work, Will, Amber, and Jason go out to celebrate their new business and Will, who does not normally drink, hooks up with a redhead, goes home with her, and wakes up in her bed the following morning. Seconds later, he realizes he cannot find his phone and, together with Amber, takes steps to retrieve it.
After locating his phone via a tracking app on Amber’s phone, the two friends get a taxi to the address the app provides them with. When nobody answers the door, Amber goes around the back, breaks, in and then opens the door for Will. They fail to locate the phone but do find a whole load of trouble and end up being held prisoner in the cellar.
Their jailor, Jacob (Tommy Kijas), the house owner, is a junkie who stole Will’s phone at the bar and plans to sell it to get extra money for drugs.
Jacob is essentially a guy with a problem so, although he threatens Will and Amber with a high-power nail gun and behaves erratically, it’s hard to class him as the bad guy. He’s just an unfortunate guy. Everything he does only seems to make his situation worse and the time of year doesn’t help. It’s Halloween and, while he is trying to keep his prisoners quiet and decide what to do with them, Jacob has to keep rushing to the door to deal with Trick or Treaters.
When an off-duty policeman and his two kids ring ring on the bell, Jacob, who has no candy in the house tosses a few condoms into their buckets and places a sign on the door that makes his feelings clear: “No Candy! Fuck Off!”
Although Goodwin’s character Will is prominent throughout the film and is very likeable, Blanton always steals the show, helping to generate and maintain an amusing vibe in most of her scenes.
With a runtime of only 73 minutes, Ring Ring is quite a short film and although other reviewers talk about it plodding or dragging along, I never felt that way. It’s certainly not fast-moving or high-action but because I liked the characters and was curious to see what would happen next, I was more than happy to just go with the flow.
In addition to liking the characters, I also like the ending and think it works well. Although things get a little grim, Ring Ring does an about-turn during the last few minutes and reclaims the humourous vibe that was evident in the early scenes. Give it a chance, and you may find that you enjoy Ring Ring as well. Just don’t make the mistake of expecting a typical horror film.