The Choking Game (2014)

Touches You

Pretty Good

One of my all time favorites.

Tells a fascinating and unsettling true story, and does so well, without pretending to have all the answers.

Taryn is a typical teenager with very little personality and an overbearing mother. One day she meets Nina, a girl who takes part in a popular trend spreading throughout North America, the Choking Game (choking one's self to get high from passing out). Taryn changes from good grades and nice friends to trying to drunkenly seduce her guy friend, mocking her best friend Elena and yelling constantly at her mother. When Nina goes too far and hits her head on the floor while passing out, it leaves her in a catatonic state and disfigured as well.The Choking Game is dangerous. I am a student and I see kids at the high school playing it all the time. However, it is no more dangerous than the previous trend, cutting. While adults consider these things self-harm, they are, but more often than not I see kids doing it for popularity, because they think coming to school with cuts on their arms or bandages looks cool (it doesn't). The kids who are seriously doing it for the purpose of harm conceal it, they don't do it so blatantly obvious like in this movie.The kids in this movie were shallow, had little or no personalities (save for Elena), and they all dressed in the same styles, it was hard at first even to remember who was who because there was nothing to distinguish them from each other. This was based on a fictional book but the book was based on true cases. However, the idea that Nina became disfigured and catatonic was difficult to believe. The cases I've seen or heard of are kids dying from the Choking Game (saw it on C.T.V. News) and mental retardation caused by it. Most kids just pass out and then wake up giggling like idiots, it's rather pointless but apparently an addictive behavior, you've got to give the film company credit for at least raising awareness.Honestly this movie wasn't bad, but I think the company should have done more research on the case, or asked what it was from a kid's point of view, not an adults'.

Seldom have I seen a TV movie that I recorded and saw a second time. The Choking Game was one that I did see twice. The subject was well handled in every aspect. It did not glorify the "game" but made us aware in a riveting way of the existence of this horrible "game" and some of its consequences. It all began with well written dialog which was believable for each character. The acting was excellent as well as the directing which was top notch. Also, it was visually well done particularly when it included images from the person playing the "game". Kudos to cast and crew! More people should see this TV movie and learn the signs of this scary "game" that can and has killed kids as young as 9 years old as well as a famous actor.

I study teen cinema as an academic (Generation Multiplex: The Image of Youth in American Cinema Since 1980) so I have seen many hundred of films about teenagers. This LMN production is not meant to provide laughs and thrills, but at least it's not too preachy about its message (choking is indeed stupid), and better yet, it delves into the personal reasons why the two lead girls become involved in the practice. It's at least worth seeing to talk with teens about trying dangerous behavior for its own thrill, especially in an era when youth are trying to find ever-greater "extreme" behavior to stand out and/or fit in.The actors throughout-- both the teens and the adults-- do fine, believable work. And the script does not try to be too hip with teen lingo or attitudes. The kids use the relevant amount of contemporary technology and have realistic parents. They are a little wealthier than average teens, which is the case in almost all teen movies. The protagonist faces legitimate pressure about graduating from high school and going to college, and has a boy crush that is handled sincerely.SPOILERS: The images that the girls envision when unconscious are rather dramatic, and even beautiful. I am not sure that this is the best approach to discourage the practice! After all, dreaming when naturally asleep is dramatic and beautiful, but not dangerous. The core issue among the girls is about acceptance and pressure (both with peers and adults), so I am not sure why the producers bothered to render any imagery for the choking.You may have an issue with the ending, which plays it too safe (or is simply too ambiguous) about the fate of the "bad" girl who leads the "good" girl into the choking game. You know that she will pay some kind of price, because the bad influence always does, but just what happens to her, on a medical level, is so vague that it might lead some younger viewers to assume the girl will be okay, when the suggestion is otherwise made that she has suffered permanent lifelong damage. I am not sure why the producers chose this approach.I am also unsure of the alarming statistics posted before the end credits. Young people may be resistant to view choking as an epidemic when less than 10% of teens try it. Again, the film may be more valuable to foster discussion about overall dangerous behavior among teens, especially that which may seem morally acceptable because it is not illegal. At one point the teens down alcohol at at party, which is passé compared to choking, and I think that gets at its appeal, of course.

The Choking Game is a very well written and produced television movie. Director, Lane Shefter Bishop, delivered the highest level of production I have seen on the Lifetime network. She did an amazing job in bringing the best out of each and every actor from the lead role to the smallest part. This is a meaningful story which needed to be told in a way that would impact viewers and Lane did just that in a BIG way.TV movies sometimes lack that feature film feel but The Choking Game left you leaving the screen as if you walked out of a movie theater. I was well satisfied by the story line and impressed with the story telling.