Director Patrick Rea seems like a reserved and well mannered man, but his films are just so filled with lunacy and demented humor, it’s shocking he could ever come up with movies so filled with sick twists and turns. “Split the Check” is a short but sweet Patrick Rea cinematic snack that will leave you with your jaw on the floor. That is the basic result of most of Mr. Rea’s films. Always be ready for a final twist. “Split the Check” is a dark comedy with a horror twist that is perfectly suited for its short format.
A group of people are having dinner at a restaurant, and clearly they’re just there to endure each other’s obnoxious ticks and habits just for a meal. When it comes time to split the check, the waiter shows little patience for their obnoxious attitudes and petulance, and the friends begin turning on one another. Refusing to split the check in any way shape or form, or even remotely compromise, the group begin to argue, and suddenly secrets begin to spill out like a dam. And once the secrets begin to spill, let’s just say, in typical Patrick Rea fashion, things go from dark to incredibly horrific in a matter of seconds.
With excellent editing and some creative acts of vengeance from the diners on one another, “Split the Check” is a morbid moment in Patrick Rea’s reality where despicable people cannibalize one another ad hilarity. The final line is the piece de resistance. As is the case with director Patrick Rea, nothing is ever as it seems in his films, and “Split the Check” sets the light on a group of despicable people who self-destruct when the issue of money is introduced in to their relationship. If only life sorted the scum out like this.