A Review of ‘The Vortex’: A consuming swirl of tense drama and abnormal happenings at a casino
A desperate Las Vegas hotel performer faces a night of visits and intrusions while struggling to make good at a slot machine.
‘The Vortex’: A consuming swirl of tense drama and abnormal happenings at a casino
Cast: Billy Gardell, Jaina Lee Ortiz, Emily Alabi, Jamie McShane, Christopher Titus, Nick Gomez, Azita Ghanizada, Jeremy Luke, Nick Gracer, Shaan Shorma, Mary Sheer, Yolanda Snowball, Joe O’Connell, Chris Kleckner, Eliot Schwartz, Ciara Hanna
Critic’s Rating: 4 Stars out of 5
Director: Richard Zelniker,
Duration: 1 hour, 20 minutes
Genre: Drama, Mystery
Language: English
Release: 2025
What’s it about?
A desperate Las Vegas hotel performer faces a night of visits and intrusions while struggling to make good at a slot machine.
Review:
The Vortex is an intriguing and absorbing drama with subtle dozes of thriller and the supernatural thrown in. This movie’s richly detailed character study is complemented by good acting and sharp, slick dialogue along with edgy camerawork and a taut jazz score. With fiction based on fact, here is a tale that unfolds in the hours leading up to the devastating 1980 fire that ravaged the Las Vegas MGM Grand Hotel. The central character - Pete Finnegan (Billy Gardell) - a stand-up comic and gambling addict - experiences financial woes, scary threats, warm friendship, unwelcome adulation, paranormal activity, wavering hope and a shot at redemption. This eventful gamut of experiences unfolds over one night, with manic shifts in emotions around every corner.
Pete evokes the viewer’s sympathy as he comes off a successful gig on a hotel stage only to confront the fact that he is deep in debt. Several bills need paying and loans have to be honoured. The distraught man’s only chance for evening up is to play a slot machine in a secluded room of the casino. It is here that he has to tackle his fears and dreams as several people in his current life drop in. First, the young Native American cleaning lady Jackie (Emily Alabi) arrives with some apparent talismans followed by the amiable cocktail waitress Ginny (Jaina Lee Ortiz). Next up, is the mercurial Jimmy (Christopher Titus) who comes calling to reclaim lent money. Here’s where the strained atmosphere goes up a notch.
Other characters who encroach on Pete’s space are a couple of similar hard-on-their-luck hotel employees Alice (Yolanda Snowball) and Pat (Mary Sheer), as well as a flustered pit manager (Jamie McShane) and a frazzled casino technician (Nick Gomez). Then, the congenial cameos by Pete’s fellow performer Johnnie B. (Jeremy Luke) and an Indian aircraft mechanic Akosh (Shaan Shorma) are jarringly offset by the appearance of Louis (Nick Gracer), who seems to have quite some nastiness up his sleeve. Will Pete survive the test of this hulk of a man before the endearing sweetness of Johnnie B.’s wife Shirin (Azita Ghanizada) shows face? At any rate, this meandering night culminates with mystical revelations and of course, the hotel fire. Is Pete unknowingly in a sacred or cursed place and will he heed the warning signs?
Director and co-writer Richard Zelniker appears to have taken a leaf out of Quentin Tarantino’s book insofar as using the spoken word to build tension. Zelniker also prudently alternates light-hearted and trivia-laden conversation with dark and sinister exchanges. Through the varying nature of these interactions, the filmmaker adequately fleshes out his characters, leaving the audience to guess exactly what is going to give. Zelniker also sets up most of his cast well in order to create a sense of familiarity and anticipation, giving them definition even when they are off screen. There are also a slew of funny lines like when Pete talks about the showgirls in Johnny B.’s musical act: “They want to know you’re looking (at them) without them catching your look.” Plus, Pete narrates to Louis the amusing story of how he took up stand-up comedy, which the latter interprets as a “fake it till you make it” ploy.
Fans of the Film Noir and Neo-Noir genres will find a lot of take away from this viewing experience. The sense of offbeat mystery, forbidden love, imminent danger and changing fortunes are well realised. But part of the audience might find the film's main set occasionally claustrophobic. However, there is even a subtle nod to the Stephen King-adapted Stanley Kubrick horror classic The Shining (1980) - in relation to the significance of a former Native American location. Plus, this movie’s conclusion conveys a humanistic and poignant message which is hard to resist or undermine. All in all, The Vortex is one whirlpool of vigorous emotion that the audience won’t mind being sucked into.
