Mike Milch (John Gallagher, Jr.) is on his way to work while driving down a crowded street. He is approached at his car by a man in town who offers him a figure made from an old corncob. Mike buys one from the man. Mike arrives at his job, Belko Industries. The company COO Barry Norris (Tony Goldwyn) pulls up to find armed guards at the entrance asking to see ID.
As he enters the building, we meet other Belko employees who have been working there for over a year. Mike goes to his girlfriend, Leandra Florez (Adria Arjona), who is in the process of getting divorced. Leandra is constantly harassed by Wendell Dukes (John C. McGinley), who doesn’t get she’s not interested. There is new employee Dany Wilkins (Melonie Diaz), who is told that the employees all have trackers placed in their heads for the higher-ups to keep an eye on them, due to the high number of kidnappings that occur in Colombia. Dany becomes acquainted with Roberto Jerez (David Del Rio) and Leota Hynek (Gail Bean).
Not long into the day, the local employees are sent home, and a mysterious voice (Gregg Henry) speaks over the intercom telling the employees that within 8 hours, most of them will be dead. In 30 minutes, they are required to kill two people, or else more will die. The building is then completely sealed off by metal on all the doors and windows. Everybody becomes nervous and tense, while Barry tries to keep everyone calm. People play it off as a sick prank. Maintenance workers Bud Melks (Michael Rooker) and Lonny Crane (David Dastmalchian) try to melt the metal off with the blowtorch, but the metal is apparently too strong for it to have any sort of effect.
Dany, Roberto, Leota, and tech guy Keith McClure (Josh Brener) to go the roof to find cafeteria worker Marty Espenscheid (Sean Gunn) smoking a joint up there with two of his friends. As they discuss the situation, one of Marty’s friends dies when the back of her head explodes. The others freak out, while in the lobby, three more people die with their skulls getting blown out. The other employees panic, thinking someone is shooting at them.
Upon further inspection, the employees learn that the trackers in their heads are set to explode. Mike goes into the bathroom to try and cut his out, only for The Voice to speak and order him to stop trying to take it out or they will detonate it on their own. Mike stops at the last second as Leandra begs him to stop. The Voice then states that they are not messing around, and now it is demanded that the employees kill 30 among them within two hours, or 60 will be killed.
The employees start to weigh their options, as some of them cannot bring themselves to killing anyone else. Barry, however, is set to make it home to his wife and kids, so he tries to get security guard Evan Smith (James Earl) to give him the keys to the armory. Evan refuses to do so after he just witnessed one of his fellow guards and friend get killed by the explosive.
The Belko Experiment is a 2016 American survival horror film directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn. The film stars John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, and Melonie Diaz. Filming began on June 1, 2015, in Bogotá, Colombia. The film premiered at the 2016 Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016 and was released in the United States on March 17, 2017, by Blumhouse Tilt and Orion Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $11 million worldwide, against its $5 million budget.
The Belko Experiment (2017)
Directed by: Greg McLean
Starring: Josh Brener, Adria Arjona, Michael Rooker, Sean Gunn, Mikaela Hoover, David Dastmalchian, Rusty Schwimmer, David Del Rio
Screenplay by: James Gunn
Production Design by: Carlos Osorio
Cinematography by: Luis David Sansans
Film Editing by: Julia Wong
Set Decoration by: Maria Andrea Rangel
Art Direction by: César Montoya
Music by: Tyler Bates
MPAA Rating: R for strong bloody violence throughout, language including sexual references, and some drug use.
Studio: Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer, Orion Pictures
Release Date: March 17, 2017
