Countdown

Countdown is a 2019 American supernatural horror film directed and written by Justin Dec, and starring Elizabeth Lail, Jordan Calloway, Talitha Bateman, Tichina Arnold, P.J. Byrne, Peter Facinelli, Anne Winters, and Tom Segura. The plot follows a group of people who discover a mobile app that correctly tells its users when they are going to die.
Countdown was theatrically released in the United States on October 25, 2019 by STX Entertainment, receiving negative reviews from critics but grossed $48 million worldwide against a $6.5 million budget, becoming a commercial success.
==Plot==
At a party, teenager Courtney is convinced by her friends to download Countdown, an app that seemingly predicts how long a user has left to live. Courtney is startled that it says she only has 3 hours and 22 minutes left to live. After avoiding getting into a car with her drunk boyfriend Evan, Courtney receives a notification stating she has broken the "user agreement". Returning home, she is attacked by an unseen entity and killed as her timer reaches zero. At the same time, Evan crashes his car and a tree branch impales the seat where Courtney would have been sitting.
Quinn Harris, a nurse who works at the hospital where an injured Evan is admitted, lends a supportive ear but dismisses his claims of a supernatural app. Nevertheless, curiosity eventually causes her to download it. She is horrified to learn it says she has only two days left to live. Evan skips his surgery and is informed he has violated the user agreement. He tries to escape the hospital, but is confronted with an apparition of Courtney before being killed by the entity.
When Quinn finds out that Evan has died, she decides to check his phone, which indicates no time left. Due to dismay that she'll die in the next day, Quinn declines to go out with her younger sister Jordan and their father. The app informs her she has violated the user agreement. Shortly afterward, her boss Dr. Sullivan sexually harasses her and thwarts her attempt to report his offense to her supervisor. When Quinn researches the app, she finds that similar deaths have supposedly occurred involving other app users, but the public generally considers them to be fake. She attempts to buy a new phone, but finds that Countdown has downloaded itself onto it.
After being attacked by a demonic figure, she meets a young man named Matt, whose Countdown states he will die in 18 hours. Together, they learn that the user agreement is broken if the user tries to change their fate: Quinn's trip with her family and Matt taking a train ride, which they both canceled, should have resulted in their deaths. At work, Quinn learns Sullivan has tricked the staff into thinking she sexually harassed him, resulting in her suspension. On her time off, she and Matt consult a priest named Father John, who informs them that the app is linked to a demon named Ozhin who was originally summoned by a Roma woman who told a prince when he would die. Cell phone salesman Derek hacks into the app code and identifies that Jordan was meant to die shortly before Quinn, then adds several decades to her, Jordan's, and Matt's lives. However, while Matt and Quinn are spending the night together, the entity takes the form of Matt and attacks Quinn before their countdowns, including Jordan's, reset to their original lifespans, much to their shock and horror.
Jordan receives a notification of her countdown changing to the original lifespan and is then terrorized by a demonic form of her and Quinn's deceased mother. Quinn and Matt collect her and
return to Father John, who theorizes the curse can be broken if someone dies before their countdown ends or lives for even a single second afterwards. They prepare a warding circle in an attempt to delay Ozhin. The demon arrives and manages to lure them outside, killing Matt and wounding Jordan. Quinn rushes Jordan to the hospital; once there, she realizes she can kill Sullivan before his allotted time and end the curse. She attempts to attack him, but he is saved by Ozhin, who simultaneously prepares to kill Jordan on time. However, Quinn purposefully overdoses on drugs, sacrificing herself before her timer ends and proving the app wrong. Per Quinn's instructions, Jordan manages to revive her with Naloxone ("Narcan") and their countdown timers stop. Some time later, while visiting her and Jordan's mother's grave, Quinn receives word of Sullivan's arrest and after more nurses have come forward to accuse him. Finally satisfied, she suddenly discovers an app called Countdown 2.0 has downloaded itself onto her phone.
In a mid-credits scene, Derek is on a Tinder date when his Countdown app causes the lights in the restaurant to go out and he is attacked by Ozhin.
==Cast==
*Elizabeth Lail as Quinn Harris, an newly appointed registered nurse and the older sister of Jordan Harris. 
*Jordan Calloway as Matt Monroe, a young man whom Quinn meets at the phone store and team up to defeat Ozhin.
*Talitha Bateman as Jordan Harris, the younger sister of Quinn, who joins Quinn and Matt to fight against the demon, Ozhin.
*Tichina Arnold as Nurse Amy, the head of the hospital where Quinn works.
*P. J. Byrne as Father John, a demon enthusiast who tries to help Quinn, Matt, and Jordan face Ozhin.
*Peter Facinelli as Dr. Sullivan, Quinn's boss.
*Anne Winters as Courtney, Evan's girlfriend.
*Matt Letscher as Charlie Harris, the widowed father of Quinn and Jordan.
*Dillon Lane as Evan, Courtney's boyfriend.
*Tom Segura as Derek, a tech worker who, according to Quinn, can hack apps, including Countdown.
*Charlie McDermott as Scott
*Christina Pazsitzky as Krissy
*Jeannie Elise Mai as Allie
*Marisela Zumbado as Kate
==Production==
Elizabeth Lail was cast in the film's leading role in March 2019. In April 2019, it was announced that Talitha Bateman, Peter Facinelli, Jordan Calloway, Tom Segura, P. J. Byrne, Anne Winters and Tichina Arnold had also joined the cast.
Danny Bensi and Saunder Jurriaans composed the film's score. The soundtrack was released by Sony Classical Records.
==Release==
Countdown was theatrically released in the United States on October 25, 2019. The film's trailer premiered on September 13, 2019. STX Entertainment reportedly spent under $15 million promoting the film. The studio partnered with Amp Studios, run by YouTuber Brent Rivera, to promote the film on social media apps such as TikTok.
After watching the trailer, developer Ryan Boyling built and uploaded a random generator death app that looks exactly like the one in the film. The app is available on both iOS and Android platforms and climbed to the number one spot in the App Store charts in October 2019.
===Home media===
The film was released in Digital HD on January 14, 2020, and on DVD and Blu-ray on January 21, 2020 in the US, and on March 2, 2020 in the UK.
==Reception==
===Box office===
In the United States and Canada, Countdown was released alongside Black and Blue and The Current War, and was projected to gross around $5 million from 2,675 theaters in its opening weekend. The film made $3.1 million on its first day, including $515,000 from Thursday night previews. It went on to over-perform and debut to $9 million, finishing fifth. In its second weekend the film fell 35% to $5.8 million, finishing seventh.
===Critical response===
On Rotten Tomatoes, the film holds an approval rating of , for an average grade of , based on reviews. The site's critics consensus reads, "Countdown may offer a few fleeting jolts for horror fans with barren queues, but it lacks enough wit or creativity to leave a lasting impression." On Metacritic, the film has a weighted average score of 31 out of 100, based on 16 critics, indicating "generally unfavorable reviews." Audiences polled by CinemaScore gave the film an average grade of "C+" on an A+ to F scale, while those surveyed at PostTrak gave it 3 out of 5 stars.
==See also==
*Final Destination (franchise)
==References==
==External links==
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Category:2019 horror films
Category:2019 films
Category:2010s supernatural horror films
Category:American films
Category:American supernatural horror films
Category:Demons in film
Category:Films about mobile phones
Category:Films produced by John Morris
Category:STX Entertainment films