The Way Up Is Death

An ominous-looking tower suddenly appears, floating over the English countryside. When 13 random strangers are jerked out of their lives to its doorstep, the game, whatever it might be, is clearly on. Some think it’s a live-action role play. Others are convinced it’s reality TV. Initially, the only clue is emblazoned over the entrance: “ASCEND.” As they climb, the tower creates scenarios from the depths of their imaginations, revealing their most horrifying fears, and it becomes clear that only one can survive the perilous ascent. The tower will judge their choices, and the price will be higher than any ever imagined. Hanks (Swashbucklers) combines the entertainment of reality TV with the deadly consequences of epic disaster films, the traps and monsters of video games, and the worst horrors hiding in the human psyche to tell a story about people bonding and fracturing between hope and dread, searching for escape or salvation.