Death’s Roulette on Disney+ is a Spanish-language movie that disappointingly uses the “strangers in a closed room” trope. It is not a creatively inspired genre offering but a decent film that passes for entertainment. Maribel Verdu (Y Tu Mama Tambien) is the star attraction here and stars as one of the seven people mysteriously kidnapped and locked into a game of murder, violence, and dark truths about their shared connection from the past emerge. This genre has become quite fashionable in recent times.
Netflix’s Squid Games proved how compelling the structure could be not just to keep the viewer on edge but also confront them with heady themes and social commentary. Before that, films like Saw, Escape Room, Maze Runner, and Would You Rather successfully deployed the approach. Death’s Roulette looks gorgeous and too preoccupied with its own sense of visual aesthetics. But past those well-lit sets, snippy camera angles, and nifty pacing lies a hollow premise with little meaning and dramatic force.
Even though there is an attempt to position the film in the grey areas of morality and societal inequities, it falls flat after the first half hour. Death’s Roulette has some decent plot turns that are sharp, well-conceived, and decisive. In this piece, we dissect the entire plot of Death’s Roulette and explain its confounding and tragic ending for you. Bear in mind there are spoilers ahead.
Death’s Roulette Plot Summary
Seven strangers wake up in a room. Their hands and legs are tied. The room is situated on an island in the middle of nowhere. They seemingly do not know each other, barring Esteban Fernandez’s family. Neither they nor the viewers have any idea how they got into the room. The seven characters are:
- Lieutenant Simon Acosta Cruz, Mexico City Police Investigation
- Esteban Fernandez, a successful businessman and co-owner of Grupo Suma
- Lupe Fernandez, a human rights lawyer and environmentalist; Esteban and Marta’s daughter
- Marta Carillo, Esteban’s wife, co-owner of Grupo Suma
- Armando Grimoldi, a renowned surgeon
- Teresa Torres, a stewardess
- Jose, a retired old man
They are informed that they will be playing a game. The rules are simple.
- You must choose someone from your group to die.
- The chosen one must agree to die.
- No one can choose to die voluntarily.
And, if you choose not to play, you will all be killed. Thus begin the dirty games of accusations and growing disenchantment with the idea of humanity. The rest of the film progresses as participants navigate the complex rules with some hard decisions and reveal ugly truths about their lives.
References Used to Solve the Acrostic
This small segment is for the benefit of the viewers to revisit the references Vega used – in the envelopes – to solve the acrostic on the second level and reveal the next clue.
- The surname of Fernandez’s figurehead – Pereira.
- Teresa is addicted to – Amphetamines.
- Lupe falsified her diploma from – High school.
- The partner who was betrayed by Simon – Lorenzo.
- Martha’s sister’s name – Ofelia. But her family didn’t know she had a sister.
- Jose is – (an eight-letter word in Spanish) Retired.
- Teresa’s dealer’s nickname – Elf.
- STD passed on by Armando – Gonorrhoea.
- Esteban’s second lover – Alejandra.
What connection do the strangers in the room share with each other?
The players in the game are not connected to each directly. But they all share one figure in their dark pasts: Pablo Vega. He is a sadist and serial killer who thinks he is a hero. Vega sounds like the central antagonist from Luther: The Fallen Sun, played brilliantly by Andy Serkis. He made all public figures like politicians and judges play morbid games that involved torture. Simon remembers an instance with Judge Echegaray, who suffered a horrible tragedy.
He was tortured, opened his stomach, took out his guts, and Vega asked his family to play hangman with it. Lieutenant Simon has been chasing this killer for a long time. But he has never been able to catch him. Simon and the police had Vega cornered in a motel in Cuernavaca. He saw a silhouette and, due to his adrenaline rush, shot at the figure as they were reaching for the waist. It was Vega’s wife. That is Simon’s connection with Vega. Armando is the surgeon who was not able to save Vega’s mother, Patricia, after she was involved in a car accident.
Armando says he couldn’t do anything as Patricia arrived in a very bad condition after being hit by a car. It was Teresa who hit her with the car. She absconded after she hit him and didn’t help Patricia. She came back to the same place and was told Patricia was alive and only had fractures. The testimony of nurse Paloma Lopez plays from a recorder. Patricia only had three fractures in her leg. Repair surgery was needed. She had arrhythmia, and the doctor put an endotracheal tube inside. It is a normal procedure. But Armando misplaced it. And that’s why Patricia died. It punctured her esophagus.
Who is Ofelia? What is Pablo Vega’s connection to her?
This is where the connection of Esteban, Marta, and Lupe with Vega comes into play. Earlier, they had told everyone that Patricia was a servant in their house. When she got pregnant, she left the job and went her separate way. That is when another door is opened, and all the players are led to a new room with Vega’s memories of his childhood and of Patricia. Armando spots a photo of Esteban, Marta, and Patricia in Paris. Pablo refers to them as “uncle and aunty.” It turns out that Ofelia is Pablo’s biological mother.
Pablo is Lupe’s cousin. Ofelia had a lot of mental problems. She was in an asylum. Pablo was born there. Ofelia was Marta’s older sister. Their father committed her to an asylum to seek treatment for her illness. She was depressed and suicidal. Someone raped her, and Pablo was born. Marta denied taking Pablo as he was a weak child. Patricia was the midwife who adopted Pablo.
Armando turns the tables by saying it is a test of sacrifice for Lupe’s parents. Marta offers money to Teresa for her son Mateo. But she disagrees. Marta sacrifices herself to make her wrongs right. The clock stops, and a new door opens, after which the story progresses towards the end.
Why is Jose the only one who is tortured and mercilessly murdered?
When the players were required to supply an eight-letter Spanish word to describe Jose, they all came up with “retired.” But when the resultant answer to the acrostic was “Pablo Jega,” Simon had an epiphany. He replaced the “j” with a “v,” which correctly spelled Vega. But what does this say about Jose? Actually, the word that was meant to describe Jose was (violadora), which means “rapist” in English. This was confirmed at the dinner table, and Jose’s connection to Ofelia, Pablo’s biological mother, was that he raped her. Jose was Pablo’s biological father.
Death’s Roulette Ending Explained
Who is Pablo Vega? Do any of the players escape the trap?
When the clock stopped at the second level, even though the players had decided to kill Marta and she agreed, they thought they were home free. They make their way up the stairs into the new room, which is also like a house. They see a lavish dinner table being set up and proceed to eat. Just then, Armando takes out a knife from one of the dishes, which reads “Do it yourself,” and the clock starts ticking again. Esteban stabs Armando with it because he is taking strides toward Marta.
They all vote for Armando, and he agrees to die since he will not be saved anyway. They go into the next room, which opens into a maze. The Fernandez family separates from the other three. Teresa and Simon separate from each other. Actually, Vega’s shooters are chasing the remaining participants and shooting them at sight.
Teresa is hit by a car after she thinks she has escaped. The other two shooters are after the others. It is then revealed in a twist ending that Simon is actually Pablo Vega. She asks for clemency for Mateo. He doesn’t say anything and kills her. Vega has been a part of the entire game, like the old man was in Squid Games, to ensure that the participants did not focus on survival but on the game.
What sordid secrets did Esteban and Maria hide from Lupe?
Esteban and Marta are about to escape, but Pablo comes from behind, asking them to wait. Lupe makes sure they wait for him as they don’t know his reality. Marta sees the mark on his arm and realizes the truth. He holds them at gunpoint. He plays Russian roulette with the gun. And in another twist, it turns out that Lupe is involved with Pablo. He met Lupe a while ago, and she knew about the girls. Pablo told her everything in detail.
Marta and Esteban don’t want to play. Pablo reveals Alejandra was not his secretary. She went to school with Lupe. There are others like Carolina as well who were targeted by Esteban as he is a child molester and pedophile. He says Lupe was next to be abused by Esteban: he is a psychopath. Lupe remembered how Esteban looked at her with predatory eyes. He also touched her inappropriately. Esteban doesn’t challenge the allegations. More shockingly, Marta knew, and she didn’t do anything. Pablo shoots Esteban to his death. Pablo and Lupe decide to take revenge on Marta.
Their method is the same as what was performed on Ofelia: electric shock therapy. They put Marta through the same electric shock treatment. As her screams echo in the background, Pablo and Lupe stand arm in arm, content with the success of their master plan.
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