Sumith Prasad
Directed by Toby Meakins, Netflix’s horror-thriller film ‘Choose or Die’ centers around Kayla, who begins to play a video game named ‘CURS>R’ to claim the prize money of $125,000. Even though Kayla approaches ‘CURS>R’ as any other retro game, she soon realizes that the game can control reality, leading her to her friend Isaac. Both of them set out to find the source and history of the game to escape from its threat. Their investigation ends in an old warehouse, where the truth about ‘CURS>R’ unravels in front of them. So, who created the game? How is the game connected to Beck and Kismet? Let’s find out! SPOILERS AHEAD.
Who Created Curs>r? Who is Beck?
Beck is a game developer and he created ‘CURS>R.’ The origin of the video game lies in a curse of an unidentifiable source, discovered by Beck. The game developer came across a set of symbols and he tried to translate the meaning of the same, only to fail. However, he found out that the symbols can alter, control, or affect reality. His efforts to comprehend the foundational meaning of the symbols led him to the discovery that each symbol represented a certain thing like fire, water, or blood. According to Beck, the curse, the associated symbols, and the myth that the curse can be used to affect reality did exist for centuries.
As per the myth, the symbols become effective when they are used against an individual or individuals. Beck came to know that the symbols can be used to exert suffering on human beings as pain, fear, trauma, etc., and the one who uses the symbols, the curser, will benefit as much as the suffering one exerts on the cursed. Fascinated by the myth and the intriguing symbols, Beck tried to find a way to make use of the same and his effort resulted in the creation of ‘CURS>R.’ He converted the symbols of the curse into 8-bit equivalents to incorporate them in a horror game framework, resulted in the creation of ‘CURS>R.’
Beck formulated the game with levels that demanded a choice to be made by the players, which paves the way for severe consequences. The suffering that players go through becomes beneficial for Beck, or any curser for that matter. He successfully tested the game with an acquaintance by making him eat his arm, only for the pain to undo a wound Beck inflicted on his hand. Upon the test, Beck used Hal to make copies of the game to spread after threatening him with cutting the tongue of Hal’s son Gabe. To save his family, Hal made copies and one of them reached in the hands of Isaac for Kayla to eventually discovers in her friend’s apartment.
Is Kismet Beck’s Company?
Kismet is most likely Beck’s company. When Kayla completes ‘CURS>R’ and gains the access to become a curser herself, Beck calls her from Kismet, indicating that the mysterious company is possibly run by him. An eviction notice at Kayla’s apartment explains that Kismet is a builder. As Kayla explains, ‘CURS>R’ offers astounding prosperity for the curser when the cursed ones suffer. Beck’s prosperity may have led him to build Kismet. The benefits he reaped from ‘CURS>R’ must have helped him be a businessman.
Like Beck’s ‘CURS>R,’ Kismet’s existence is also severely ambiguous. The office building of the company doesn’t have any office cabins or rooms other than empty floors, which indicates the possibility of the company being a front for Beck’s unrevealed activities. The company’s name “Kismet,” which means destiny or fate, can be connected to Beck since he has rewritten and altered the fates of several individuals.
Read More: Who is the Narrator of ‘Curs>r’?
