How Cell Phones Affected Truth Or Dare’s Story, According To The Director

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Remember in the old days of horror movies when a character had to look for a phone in order to escape from a deadly situation? It made sense in a pre-cell phone and pre-social media world, but technology has evolved. That's something that Truth or Dare director Jeff Wadlow has realized, which is why he made a conscious choice to embrace technology instead of attempting to get around it while crafting his story. In a recent interview with CinemaBlend, the director explained:

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You know, when I started writing my first movie, Cry Wolf, which was a horror thriller. I found that cell phones were making my life difficult, because if you have a cell phone you're not in trouble anymore. I made this choice in that moment, I decided in every story I told from that point forward, whether it was a horror movie or not, I was gonna embrace technology. I was gonna make technology a part of the narrative. I was gonna have it advance the story instead of trying to figure out ways around it. And I just do that with everything, whether it's an action-comedy or it's a horror thriller like Truth or Dare. I want technology to push the story forward.

So, rather than writing a story forced to duck and weave around the presence of technology, Jeff Wadlow has endeavored to try and lace things like cell phones into his stories in logical ways since his work on Cry Wolf, and leading into movies like Never Back Down and Kick-Ass 2. By doing that in a film like Truth or Dare, he can create scenarios in which easy access to phones doesn't necessarily offer the characters ways out of certain situations, thus creating more tension.

Want an even closer look at CinemaBlend's chat with Jeff Wadlow? Check out a clip from our interview, below!

Jeff Wadlow wasn't the only member of the Truth or Dare crew to talk about this particular topic. In fact, in another interview, Truth or Dare star Lucy Hale similarly addressed the importance of social media and its relevance to the film's story. These forms of technology used to represent an easy way out for desperate characters in traditional horror films, but it really looks like Truth or Dare offers up an example of how the genre has evolved to embrace these platforms.

Truth or Dare will debut in theaters tomorrow, so make sure to check out CinemaBlend's in-depth review of the latest Blumhouse offering and check it out to see for yourself! Then, looking ahead to the rest of this year, head over to our 2018 movie premiere guide to see what else is in store on the big screen!