The year 2020 has caused most of the world to be stuck in an even more intense state of fight or flight. Everyone is exhausted, angry, and undervalued. It has become clear that for some people the ability to make money and live lavishly while others suffer is dearer than human life or the comfort of others. The coronavirus pandemic has largely caused the population to realize that they are nothing more than pawns in a capitalistic game, something that is disposable. Those deemed essential workers have put their lives on the line constantly as the infection rates have soared, leaving the workers to feel underappreciated in the eyes of the establishment that has immensely failed them. 2020 has become a time of grand re-evaluation on many deep emotional and ethical levels.
Three years before this pandemic hit, in March 2017, the film The Belko Experiment was released to middling reviews. This is not shocking. The film is gleefully mean-spirited and raw in a way that leaves little room for sugarcoating tactics. Sometimes it is not easy to have the mirror turned around on humanity and allow it to be seen for what it truly is. The story centers itself around the employees of a company that are forced into a battle royale, pitted against one another in a horrible game of kill or be killed orchestrated as an experiment. The Belko Experiment was an underrated gem upon its release, but over three years, it has managed to age remarkably well, especially in the light of the current pandemic, societal strife, and capitalistic greed. The film serves as a no-holds-barred indictment of a capitalist society that undervalues its workers and pushes them to the edges, as well as a damning critique of the toxic masculinity that is allowed to thrive among those in the upper echelons of the workplace.
When faced with the prospect of actually having to fight to the death, two factions of workers emerge in the midst of the experiment: those that are all too comfortable with killing and those that hang onto a semblance of rationale in the situation. One of the most deadly and influential among the characters is Barry Norris (Tony Goldwyn). Barry is Belko’s chief operating officer and a former member of special forces in the military. Barry focuses on himself instead of others, which is not shocking given that he has a higher ranking job in the company and once killed people during his time in the military. Barry has no qualms concerning the idea of killing his employees, and leads a group of equally bloodthirsty workers that have little moral compass. Note that most of those who fall in with Barry are white cis straight men, who immediately seek ways to ensure their survival. Unsurprisingly, being stereotypical hetero-patriarchal family men, they begin to prioritize workers who have children and families over those who do not, actively advocating for those without children to be killed off instead.
Barry Norris as a whole represents the higher-ranking members of corporations who exploit workers and view them as lesser. He views everyone as beneath him, and his ego is bolstered by his status within the company and his background in the military. Barry is presented in such a way that he oozes toxicity, and that very toxicity proves to be emboldening and infectious to the other men around him. He is imbued with the traditional outdated traits of what society thinks a man should be. Completely corrupt to the core, he has no issue killing people of marginalized backgrounds and stepping on vulnerable people in order to survive. Not only do they have no problem killing people, they are visibly enjoying the melee. Two of the most troubling casualties that Barry and his men commit are the murders of a woman in a wheelchair and a hijabi Muslim woman. These acts bring the subtext of exploiting marginalized groups to the forefront.
The men who follow Barry, most notably executive Wendell Dukes (John C. McGinley), have a similarly putrid air of toxic masculinity and a willingness to expend the lower ranking workers for their own benefits. Wendell is notorious for his sexual misconduct and constantly torments Leandra Florez (Adria Arjona), who rejects his advances. Note that in this equation Leandra is a young Latina woman and Wendell is a middle-aged white man, so there is an added layer to this particular power imbalance. However, due to Wendell’s Position in the corporation, nothing has ever been done about his harassing Leandra. When all civility is eventually lost, Leandra winds up having to go against her moral fiber in order to protect herself from Wendell, and all of her pent up frustration is let out as she completely mangles and decimates his skull with an axe. Wendell effectively pushes Leandra to her breaking points, and he pays the price for it.
Even before the introduction of a kill or be killed element, Belko had dire issues that were not being addressed and added to the virulent work environment. Thus, Barry and company are wholly representative of the caustic capitalist shills who work only to further themselves and gain at the expense of others. The thoroughly poisonous hierarchy they have created reeks of pure exploitation.
On the other end of the spectrum lies the character Mike Milch (John Gallagher Jr.), who functions both as a moral compass and an everyman when the chaos begins. Mike stays firm in his belief that killing the employees is fundamentally immoral and refuses to give up hope that there is a way to navigate the murder games with minimal casualities. Those who align with Mike are notably those that do not fit the white cis straight male mold that Barry and his followers do. They are a more diverse group that includes regular workers who have little to no power over others, such as Leandra, from different marginalized groups. Ironically, Mike himself fits the conventional white cis straight male mold, but he lacks the traits of toxic masculinity that Barry and his ilk exude. Mike is more well-adjusted and level-headed than his other white cis straight male counterparts, creating a foil and archenemy to Barry. Leandra is dating Mike on the sly, and he appears to be entirely respectful of her and her autonomy despite them being co-workers. The respectful relationship between Mike and Leandra creates a stark contrast when juxtaposed with Wendell and his predatory pursuit of Leandra. Mike also holds a lower standing in the company and is genuinely well-liked by his co-workers whereas Barry is feared by them.
It is important to note there is a generational gap between Mike and Barry as well. Mike is a member of the older set of millennials — Gallagher. was born in 1984, and the millennial generation was born between 1981-1996 — and Barry is a baby boomer — Goldwyn was born in 1960 and the baby boomer generation was born between 1946-1964. There is a generally a huge value discrepancy between a lot of millennials and baby boomers. Baby boomers typically believe in the idea of being able to “pull oneself up by their bootstraps” and that anyone can thrive in the American capitalist landscape if they apply themselves and work hard. Millennials are largely disillusioned with the shiny and out of reach promise of the American dream. They are crippled by exorbitant amounts of student debt and are forced into jobs with little to no upward mobility. Millennials are stuck in a stagnant state, dealing with a society that is in arrested development and outwardly refuses to change for the better. It is fairly easy to infer, given the ages of the younger workers at Belko, that they took the job out of pure necessity since it required them all to relocate to South America, as well as to consent to a chip implant. It is extremely reminiscent of the corporate and working landscape that millennials have to endure to have simply the means to survive.
Due to Mike’s open and enthusiastic dissent against Barry, he finds himself among some of the first workers who are lined up to be brutally murdered execution style. It is simple why Mike is chosen by Barry to be one of the first of the killings, and that is to send a message: anyone who goes against Barry and the status quo must pay for it and be made an example of in the experiment. Companies in real life are notorious for repercussions against workers who try to make important changes within the structure of the workplace. There are even companies that defy workers’ rights by making clauses in their contracts where they cannot discuss pay or create or join a union. Going against the powers that be in real life can be like a professional execution.
While Barry and Mike are the main forces at work in the film, there is an interesting wrench thrown into the dynamic of the plot in the form of new hire at the company Dany Wilkins (Melonie Diaz). Dany’s first day at work is the day that the experiment takes place, so she is immediately thrown into the murderous chaos and has to fight for her life despite being a new worker, showing that no one in the situation is truly safe no matter their situation. Even in her misfortune, Dany remains a moral force in her own right, choosing to aid Mike and others by pulling strings while hidden from the other workers. In the scenario where Mike is nearly murdered execution style, it is Dany who steps in to save his and others’ lives by shutting off the power to create a necessary diversion. Dany is very much a spanner in the works, an unforeseen force working against Barry’s machinations. Though she is new at Belko, she makes the distinct choice to align herself with the side of right and only kills accidentally in self defense.
Unsurprisingly, the last two left standing are Barry and Mike. At this point, Barry has killed not only Dany but also Leandra. The deaths of his friends, co-workers, and love push Mike over the edge. While being at a marked disadvantage against Barry, Mike manages to best him by relying on sheer anger and brokenness. Mike is the classic man who has been pushed too far by the environment that surrounds him. He fights Barry and kills him not to preserve his own life but out of frustration and retribution. The weapon that Mike uses to kill Barry is heavily symbolic of corporate drudgery: a heavy industrial tape dispenser. After Mike murders Barry, he is a changed man. His demeanor changes entirely, a ghost of the man that he was at the start of the film. It is highly parallel to how the demands of the workplace can break the spirits of the workers and cause them to spiral into depression and anxiety. Those who conducted the experiment come to collect their winner and give him a garish exit interview involving his experiences during the trial they were running. Mike continues to be reckless in his shattered state and bests his tormentors, leading to their deaths. The final moments of the film reveal that this was just phase one of a larger experiment and phase two will commence, mirroring the seemingly never-ending despair of real world situations.
In 2020, the despair found at the end of The Belko Experiment reigns supreme. Most people are wholly overcome with many different sorts of fatigue whether it be because the pandemic itself or the pandemic revealing the insidiousness of the American workplace and placing the wants of few over the needs of many. It is a time of great difficulty and reflection, and it most definitely causes different stories to impact individuals in ways that they might never have explored before. The Belko Experiment might very well be one film that summarizes all of the frustration and brokenness of the year 2020 through its dark and witty look at capitalism, toxic masculinity, and societal strife at large. Perhaps, it is time to set aside some an evening while quarantine still presses on to give this film another watch.
