Series 7: The Contenders (2001)
“We’re here to help you!”
Series 7 presents itself as an entire season of a fictional reality show in which the contestants must kill each other until only 1 person remains. The scenes are broken up with previews of what’s to come and recaps of what’s already happened, like bumpers between commercial breaks. It uses every reality TV trope you can imagine to tell its story — overly dramatic music, aggressively intrusive zooms and contrived scenarios that force contestants into emotionally difficult situations. The result is an intense, enthralling experience that is as uncomfortable as it is absurd.
Writer-director Daniel Minahan chaneled his extensive experience from working in television into his debut film. He took a well known story concept (The Most Dangerous Game, Rollerball, Running Man, etc) and applied it to a format that he found irresistible. Back in 2001, he told the BBC that reality shows “seemed like documentaries only they were really exaggerated and broke all the rules. They were very exploitative and titillating and horrifying and yet I couldn’t stop watching”. He recruited actress Brooke Smith (Silence of the Lambs) to play protagonist Dawn and other relatively unknown actors like a young Merritt Weaver in order to complete the immersive experience.
Even though Series 7 is a dark comedy, there are moments that feel way too real, and way ahead of its time. Some moments feel like they are straight out of shows like Cops or Rescue 911. The film hints at a much darker universe, one where the government is complicit in who is chosen ‘randomly’ to compete. The rules are obscure, but what’s most unsettling is how complacent everyone is with the exploitation of violence. The contestants even encounter fans while hunting each other down. What makes this film such a hidden fucked-up gem is how committed it remains to the reality-show structure. We never get a real moment with these characters, and even though they try to be themselves, the structure of the show never lets them exist outside of the competition.
