Out of Time Trivia Quiz

Answer: The Road

Based on the bestselling novel from Nobel Prize winner Cormac McCarthy, "The Road" starred Viggo Mortensen and Kodi Smit-McPhee as the man and the boy, two unnamed characters striving to survive in a post-extinction wasteland. Forced to fend for themselves against the odds, the movie watched as their time together ran down after time had already run out. Premiering at the Venice International Film Festival, "The Road" was well-received, built on the bleak world pulled directly from McCarthy's novel and the performances of its two leads.

Answer: Saw II

Following up on the simple concept of "Saw", released 2004, "Saw II" expanded the story by putting eight people into a boarded-up house and forcing them to come to terms with the problems and sins they created. With only two hours before a nerve agent killed them all (it only killed one of them), the frantic game-players faced elaborate traps while a detective (played by Donnie Wahlberg) pursued the Jigsaw Killer looking for answers. "Saw II" was followed by countless sequels. Director Darren Lynn Bousman would go on to direct "Repo! The Genetic Opera" and the "Mother's Day" remake.

Answer: The Fifth Element

In Luc Besson's "The Fifth Element", Bruce Willis' Korben Dallas and Milla Jovovich's Leeloo needed to work together to retrieve the elements and bring them to an ancient Egyptian temple. With only moments to spare before a Great Evil collided with Earth to wipe it out of the solar system, the pair placed and activated the retrieved stones and determined that the fifth element, the one that brought it all together, was love. "The Fifth Element" became a quick cult classic and also starred Chris Tucker, Gary Oldman, and Ian Holm. Making more than $260,000,000 USD in the box office, it is perhaps one of Luc Besson's most popular mainstream films.

Answer: Melancholia

As Justine and Claire (Kirsten Dunst and Charlotte Gainsbourg) prepared for Justine's wedding, the people of Earth came to discover that a rogue planet by the name of Melancholia was making a circuit around the planet, expected to collide in a short time.

As the end of the movie neared, the planet closed in. "Melancholia" was the second movie in Lars von Trier's 'Depression Series' after "Antichrist" and "Nymphomaniac". Releasing at Cannes in 2011, the movie was highly regarded and was considered by many formal critics to be one of the best of the 2010s as a decade.

Answer: Ready or Not

Staying at the Le Domas family mansion following her wedding to board game magnate Alex Le Domas, Grace discovered that, as a new member of the family, she would be required to partake in a little game of hide and seek. If she could stay hidden until morning, she would win.

Unfortunately, the rest of the family needed to locate her or put themselves at risk of being killed by an ancient curse placed upon them by the Devil himself. "Ready or Not" was quite the successful horror comedy created by horror filmmakers Radio Silence, who previously worked on "Southbound" and segments of the "V/H/S" series.

Answer: Escape Room

After six people received a puzzle box in this movie, they headed to a nondescript building only to get trapped inside and get forced into working together to solve high-concept, deadly puzzles a la party escape rooms. Each room had its own deadlines, forcing the survivors (from room to room) to race against the clock, often sacrificing themselves for the others, to get to the proceeding puzzle and (hopefully) escape.

The movie was popular enough to warrant a sequel, "Escape Room: Tournament of Champions".

The original came out in 2019 while the sequel, though set to be released in 2020, was postponed until 2021 due to COVID.

Answer: Alien

This seminal sci-fi/horror film only saw the race against the clock once the titular xenomorph had already killed off the majority of the Nostromo's crew. After fighting off a rogue android, Ripley and the others made to gather their things and escape in the shuttle, but only Ripley managed to get out in time for the Nostromo's self-destruction.

Unfortunately, she and Jonesy (the cat) weren't travelling alone. "Aliens", the 1986 sequel, also saw a race against the clock when Ripley and Bishop blew up the colony at LV-426.

Answer: 2012

When Roland Emmerich brought this movie out in 2009 it was just one more in a long line of disaster flicks helmed by the moviemaker after "Independence Day", "The Day After Tomorrow", and "Godzilla". "2012" took the Mayan calendar apocalypse date and attached a pseudo-science backstory to the mix, creating a film in which the planet had no choice but to suffer the consequences of a complete global reckoning. Starring John Cusack, Chiwetel Ejiofor, Amanda Peet, Woody Harrelson, and others, it was a massive blockbuster earning nearly $800,000,000 USD in the box office.

Answer: The Killing of a Sacred Deer

Ten years after the death of his father, Martin Lang exacted his revenge on the surgeon responsible, in this indie movie starring Colin Farrell and Nicole Kidman. Soon after the revelation of this cosmic re-balancing, Steven Murphy was given the choice of sacrificing one of his family members or letting all of them die after a trio of symptoms: paralysis, self-imposed starvation, and bleeding from the eyes.

The story, based loosely on "Iphigenia at Aulis" by Euripides, was well received for director/writer Yorgos Lanthimos, who also released "The Lobster" (also starring Colin Farrell) a couple years prior.

Answer: The Ring

Based on the Japanese horror film "Ringu", which started a wave of J-horror adaptations in the 2000s, "The Ring" was directed by Gore Verbinski and starred Naomi Watts as a journalist who unearthed a mysterious VHS cassette that killed anyone who watched it within seven days. During the week leading up, however, visions and symptoms of the curse would intensify, culminating in a violent demise brought on by a young girl named Samara (Sadako in the original).

The movie was immensely popular though its sequels fell flat every time.