To be totally honest I went into Countdown not expecting much. I was unfamiliar with Justin Dec as a director and the storyline sounded like warmed over Final Destination.

And to be fair there’re some similarities between the two movies but Countdown approaches the subject from a novel enough angle that it doesn’t feel like it’s treading over unhallowed ground.

It also leaves space for a sequel because the movie doesn’t for a moment go into the how’s and why’s an app like Countdown exists in the first place.

That being said, it’s well-acted and not taken more seriously than it needs to be, which made it pretty engaging.

And I mentioned Final Destination earlier, which it has more than a passing similarity to. In that movie when someone managed to somehow escape their destiny, Death would intervene directly.

In Countdown if you managed to somehow evade your destiny instead of Death a demon would make sure you kept your appointment with the Grim Reaper.

As I say in my video review, the story doesn’t stand up well to closer scrutiny. For example, let’s say if you happen to evade Death by not going on the trip to wherever that would have brought about your death, but didn’t have the Countdown app?

Likely nothing at all because there would be no impetus for the curse to act on you.

The relatively shallowness of the story doesn’t make the movie any less enjoyable, but I wish the filmmakers had made the mythology a bit more solid.