Self Reliance (2024)

Streaming on Paramount+ Now

★★1/2

Self Reliance definitely wasn’t what I thought it was going to be, and ultimately, it seems a bit of a missed opportunity. But considering it was Jake Johnson’s directorial debut, it was actually okay. Some laughs, not as unhinged as it could have been but with a script that had major potential it felt super underutilized, especially thematically. I'm not disappointed though, it just never really added up to anything in the end — I wanted a bigger payoff. It had its moments but left me unsatisfied overall.

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Premise: Given the opportunity to participate in a life or death reality game show, one man discovers there's a lot to live for.

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Paramount+

Written & Directed by Jake Johnson

Cast: Jake Johnson, Anna Kendrick, Andy Samberg, Biff Wiff, Emily Hampshire, Natalie Morales

Runtime: 1hr 30min

Rating: 14A

Comedy, Thriller

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IMDb Rating: 6.1/10

Rotten Tomatoes Score: 72%

RT Audience Score: 65%

RT Critic Average: 6.2/10

RT Audience Average: 3.5/5

Metacritic Score: 60

Letterboxd: 3.0/5

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Fun Fact: Jake Johnson has stated in interviews that the inspiration for the movie's plot was based off of various Japanese game shows with extreme premises that he watched in his youth.

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