The Belko Experiment is a 2016 American horror film directed by Greg McLean and written by James Gunn, who also produced the film with Peter Safran. It stars John Gallagher Jr., Tony Goldwyn, Adria Arjona, John C. McGinley, Melonie Diaz, Josh Brener, and Michael Rooker. The film follows eighty Americans working abroad for a company named Belko Industries in Bogotá, Colombia. One day after they arrive at work, they are locked inside the building, and a mysterious voice announces that they have to start killing each other or else devices in their head will explode.
Filming began on June 1, 2015, in Bogotá, Colombia, and concluded the following month. The film premiered at the Toronto International Film Festival on September 10, 2016, and was released in the United States on March 17, 2017, by Blumhouse Tilt and Orion Pictures. The film received mixed reviews from critics and has grossed $11 million worldwide against its $5 million budget.
Plot
Mike Milch, an employee of Belko Industries, while driving to work is stopped by street vendors selling "lucky" handmade dolls. Barry Norris, also of Belko Industries, arrives at the office building in Bogotá, Colombia, to find unfamiliar security guards turning away the local Colombian staff at the gate. New employee Dany Wilkins reports for her first day on the job and is told that a tracking device is implanted in the base of every Belko employee's skull in case something happens to them.
Evan Smith, Belko's head security guard, does not know who the new security guards are. Once all the employees show up, a voice on the intercom instructs them to kill two of their co-workers, or else there will be consequences. Several staff attempt to flee the building, but steel shutters seal off the walls and doors, locking them all in. They ignore the announcement at first, believing it to be a sick prank, but after the set time ends and the two have not been killed, four employees die when explosives hidden in their trackers detonate and blow their heads apart. Mike attempts to remove his tracker with a box cutter, but gives up when the voice threatens to detonate his tracker explosive unless he stops.
The group is told that unless thirty of them are dead within two hours, sixty will be killed. They split into two factions, one led by Mike, who believes that there should be no killing, and one led by Barry, who intends to follow the directions in order to save himself. Barry and his group, consisting of executive Wendell, as well as employees Terry, Antonio, and Bradley attempt to burn off the lock of the armory in order to gain access to its weapons. Mike and his group, including his girlfriend, Leandra Florez, Evan and employees Keith, Leota, Peggy, Vince and Roberto, try to hang banners from the roof as a call for help, but soldiers outside shoot at them. Barry, Wendell, and Terry ambush the group in the stairway, kill Evan and take his keys to the armory.
With his group now armed, Barry and Wendell select thirty people, including Mike and Peggy, forcing them to kneel in a line. Barry begins executing them with a gunshot to the back of the head. Dany, who has been hiding in the basement, sees what is happening and shuts off the building's lights before Mike and several others can be killed. The employees immediately run for cover as Barry and his group start firing, killing several more people. However, Bradley and Antonio are ganged upon and killed by the employees. During this, Dany goes into the elevator shaft with Roberto.
Barry and Wendell hunt down the fleeing employees as the voice informs them that only twenty-nine have been killed. Then the two-hour time limit runs out. The voice states that 31 more people will die, including Terry, Leota, Peggy, and Keith, leaving only 16 survivors. They are then informed by the voice that, as a final task, the employee who has killed the most people within an hour will be spared. Barry finds Dany and Roberto in the elevator shaft. Dany escapes while Roberto is crushed and killed in the elevator shaft. Leandra finds two employees, Marty and Chet, collecting the un-exploded trackers from the heads of people who have died by other methods. They tell her that they are planning to use them to blow up the wall. However, they are killed by Wendell. Leandra kills Wendell, leaving the final six survivors: Vince, Mike, Barry, Dany, Leandra, and cafeteria lady Liezle, who is killed shortly afterward. Barry shoots Vince and Dany, killing them, and also shoots Leandra. With her dying breath, she proclaims her love to Mike.