'Hot Seat' is a mystery movie that follows Orlando Friar (Kevin Dillon) as he fights to save his life. Friar is a former hacker struggling to find his way as a family man and small business IT specialist. When a hacker takes over his IT job, can Friar overcome the pressure of being in the hot seat?
The movie starts with a bang and jumps quickly into its mystery element of who is threatening Friar online. There are several characters, including Mel Gibson, who are introduced which draws interest into who they are and how they fit into the story. The plot does a good job at building anticipation (and throws in a few jump scares) to keep viewers engaged as the scenes switch between a few locations.
The lack of change in scenery leaves something to be desired as the camera angles and unchanging soundtrack get overly repetitive quickly. The constant close-up shots feel almost too close and force viewers to get a view that feels unnatural. This is paired with video game-like cuts as the film tries to transform the audience into the dot com view of a hacker with jarring code and technological edits.
Overall, the journey to the end is at best lukewarm once watch once you start the movie. The mix of anxiousness to find out who is behind the mayhem mixed with the appearance of Mel Gibson is enough to sit through the full runtime.
'Hot Seat' is in theaters on July 1st, 2022.
Rating: 2.5 out of 5
Ashley Bell (Contributing Editor) is an Orlando native who loves watching movies. Her favorite genres include comedies, thrillers and sci-fi.Click Here to check out Ashley's Articles.