The issues with this were glaring..and it's frustrating because it could've been decent..

1) This was SO on the nose, basically every single line uttered by the woman in the first 30 minutes is to make sure we know she is desperate and at the end of her rope. One emo line after another, to the point in saying "OKAY I GET IT!!" Think of every "I have nothing left to live for" line you've heard... she uses them all!!!

2) You're made to believe for 80% of the film that he's some guy likely from her past, or just a stalker that is doing this for his own fun... the issue with this is... again, they made it SO insanely obvious that it leaves the viewer with only 2 possible outcomes by pushing this hard... A) he is a bad guy from her past... or B) he's not, & the games real and he's just some weirdo that does the game...both outcomes are annoying because it's either too obvious... or they spent too much effort trying to mislead.

3) Holes... okay, so he doesn't actually know her...and the game isn't just based around her. Why then does every round seem to start just when she's set to begin? Why is he acting like such a FREAK?? Why did a grown woman walk into this place, of her own free will, & agree to this game... with absolutely zero guarantee that any of it is real? How is she going to get this money? Does she even get it? How did the bad guy get to do this so many times without anyone ever killing him before.

The actors were both very solid, but the writing was just a joke. She has multiple screws driven through her foot, presumably breaking bones along the way... & has almost no visible pain or issues getting around?

IF they didn't try SO hard to make us believe he was a guy from her past... this could've been way better actually.

"Would you rather" did a better job.

This movie is a poor mans EXAM or a Poor Copy of the Killing Room. It starts off well but then as it tries to ratchet the tension it goes off on it's own little illogical tangent. The movie never really concludes to a satisfying ending either, it's like we have run out of ideas to torture this young lady and have no idea on how to end the story. The Odds had protentional but blew it in the final act.

It's nothing like SAW. The only vaguely similar thread is that the victim must complete a series of tasks that continue to be more difficult. Other than that, they have nothing in common. It's not really a horror film, more of a psychological thriller. There are only a handful of films that have been successfully done in one setting with 2 characters; I include Bug, Open Water, & Scenic Route. But The Odds is more similar to EXAM (2009). I believe The Odds is about 2 people in a room who are both playing a game to win money and neither of whom know the real rules, although one of them thinks they know. I feel the Master was simply performing as he was instructed (some reviews say he 'took advantage' but it's called Grooming. The game was not 'rigged'; it seems more like neither the Player or the Master knew the true rules. I felt this was an interesting story but the acting lacked the tension and intrigue that it could have. The Player was just not someone we could connect with. And after agreeing to play the game, she then questions everything as if she is being held captive. She lacks either the emotion of someone being tortured nor the stoic demeanor of someone prepared to endure what may come. There was simply not enough anticipation or emotion to make the long moments rewarding. I also thought there were a lot of very rookie filmmaking mistakes, like the clean loose bandages (and suddenly dirty in one scene); and the Player's shirt was wet in one area then suddenly in a completely different area. All in all, I found the film entertaining enough to watch through to the end and thought the ending was rewarding, although very unrealistic. Almost a character-study that could have been much more engaging. I can see why the story itself won The Poe Contest.