Playing God (2021) | Film Review

Walking into Playing God, one thing was abundantly clear: this concept was going to be a hard sell. Everyone loves a good grifter tale (and who doesn’t enjoy a zippy con thriller), but to sell to a modern film audience that anyone would possibly believe they could actually be talking to God in person? Well, that’s a stretch. But a former industry leader in technology succumbing to the idea that the almighty is going to hobknob on a rooftop with him about the meaning of life and death? Absolutely not. Forget about it.

Thankfully, they have Alan Tudyk.

Playing God follows a pair of twin con artists in Micah (Luke Benward) and Rachel (Hannah Kasulka). They’ve spent their lives grifting from one moment to the next on low-end scores, and Micah puts himself dangerously in debt to a nefarious criminal when the opportunity for that one big score finally arrives in the guise of billionaire and former tech giant, Ben Elwood (Alan Tudyk). Having tragically lost his daughter, Ben has spent his time since on a pursuit to find God. Not figuratively, but literally. I mean, if billionaires can bounce into space whenever they want, is it really a surprise that now they want to talk to the head chief in the sky? Micah and Rachel aim to make that happen, as they have Michael McKean’s conman sensei Frank on hand to bring the bible to life, and in the process bilk Ben out of his fortune.

Written and directed by Scott Brignac, Playing God plays fast and loose with logic, as it is very difficult to accept anyone this intelligent could be fooled by the randomness of this conceit. Yet, Brignac injects enough theology, con magic, and character motivations to eventually win the audience over to his side. Yes, it’s a bit of a longshot. On the same token, we live in a world where people are convinced of the farfetched on a daily basis. Brignac’s script toys with Ben’s skepticism, as well as Rachel’s struggle manipulating a grieving father, just enough to keep us invested as this whole Heaven’s Eleven plays out.

Luke Benward and Hannah Kasulka are fine leads. Micah is a risk-taker and damn near a sociopath in his pursuits of the mark, and Benward sells his motivations. Kasulka is given the more difficult task of navigating an out-of-left-field curveball in the third act, and she handles it with finesse.

What carries Playing God through, though, is Michael McKean and Alan Tudyk. McKean injects his trademark wit and rapscallion flare into Frank, and when it’s time to play the actual G-O-D, he sells it. McKean is always an advantage, and he sells one of the hardest plot points of the entire film as smoothly as selling car insurance.

Alan Tudyk, on the other hand, has THE most difficult part to sell: that of a billionaire genius who is so grief stricken and tormented, that he would ever even possibly entertain the belief that he was actually speaking to the holiest of all holies. Tudyk is one of the most versatile character actors of his generation, and rarely do we hear his name bandied about with the same frequency as others of his caliber. Sarcastic, sardonic, endearing, destroyed, mortified, lost, intimidating, bewildered – every gamut of emotion runs through Ben’s veins, and Tudyk brings them roaring to life. Cast an actor of lesser talent, and this film bottoms out before it ever gets started.

Playing God is a tricky endeavor and director Scott Brignac engages healthy debate by approaching the subject matter with respect, and it mostly works. With a strong turn by Michael McKean and a heart-wrenching performance from Alan Tudyk, Playing God proves if you stack the deck enough, the house does always win.