Have you heard of the Elevator Game? I didn’t, I had to do a little research before writing this article, and it’s one big intriguing thing! The Elevator Game is an urban legend that claims it can bring a door to another world. Originating in Korea and Japan, it’s essentially a step-by-step ritual that is believed by some to blur the lines of reality and has been around since 2011. The instructions to play are the following (source here).
First, you need at least one “player” and an elevator in a building with a minimum of 10 floors.
Step 1: Let’s say you’re the player. You enter an elevator, alone or with another player. No outsider can enter the elevator with you, nor can you leave at any point. If you do exit the elevator, you must start over.
Step 2: Then, you ride the elevator from floor to floor in a specific sequence: up to the 4th floor; down to the 2nd floor; up to the 6th floor; back down to the 2nd floor; up to the 10th floor; and then down to the 5th floor. Remember not to get off at any of the floors.
Step 3: When you get to the 5th floor, if you encounter a mysterious woman, DO NOT look at her and do not answer or interact with her in any way. The consequences of engaging with her are said to include the possibility of never returning to the real world.
Step 4: Now, push the button to descend from the 5th floor to the 1st floor. Here’s where they say things could get crazy: If the elevator operates normally and takes you to the 1st floor, exit immediately and do not look back or talk to anyone. But if, instead of taking you from the 5th to the 1st floor, the elevator begins to go up . . . well, congratulations, you’re being allowed into another world. Or so they say. Alternatively, you might resist the urge to freak out, and instead simply press the emergency button and wait for the Fire Department to arrive with help.
To add more mystery, maybe you would like to check out the Death of Elisa Lam, a true story happening that is believed to be connected with the supernatural powers of The Elevator Game. And perhaps you heard about it or have seen parts of the video since it became very viral a decade ago. In its Wikipedia article, you can find a good compilation of the events.
The supernatural horror film Elevator Game (2023) is based on the online phenomenon of the same name and it follows socially awkward teenager Ryan, who ingratiates himself into a group of recent high school graduates that run an online web series debunking urban legends. But Ryan has a secret: His sister disappeared months earlier, and he believes they – and a dangerous online challenge called ‘The Elevator Game’ – were responsible. To play the game, you must ride the elevator in a specific sequence, invoking a supernatural creature called ‘The 5th Floor Woman’. In an attempt to gain more information as to the whereabouts of his sister, Ryan persuades the group to play the game once more, and risk unleashing the most fearsome consequences imaginable.
This is the new movie from the awards-winner horror filmmaker Rebekah McKendry, known for All the Creatures Were Stirring (2018), Psycho Granny (2019), and the astonishing trip Glorious (2022) [read our review here]. As in most of her previous works, her partner David Ian McKendry is the writer of the screenplay together with Travis Seppala (Captive (2023)).
Megan Best, Gino Anania, Adam Hurtig, Madison MacIsaac, Verity Marks, Alec Carlos, Nazariy Demkowicz, Liam Stewart-Kanigan, and Hazel Wallace form the main cast in Elevator Game (2023).
Shudder is releasing the movie on its streaming platform on September 15, 2023, after being pushed from the original release date of August 11, 2023.
Watch the official trailer for Elevator Game (2023).
