The Theatre
A downloadable game for Windows, macOS, Linux, and Android
Poor Jack just wanted to see a movie.
Troubled cat and cinephile Jack Harper looks forward to seeing a movie at the Dante Theater, one of the most prestigious arthouse cinemas in the Midwest. However, things soon go horribly wrong. What starts as an innocent trip to the movies becomes a bloody fight for survival as Jack and the other moviegoers are trapped inside. Now Jack must dive deep into a cinematic hell in order to escape.
And everyone here fucking sucks.
The Theatre is a new unhinged horror comedy visual novel from RhettoeRaven (IMG_1697) about movies, horrible people, and poor taste humor.
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This visual novel is meant for adult audiences only. Please do not read if you are under 18 or easily disturbed.
CONTENT WARNING: Violence and excessive gore, sexual content*, dark humor, homophobia including slurs, and accurate depictions of Midwestern cities.
*Visual depictions of sex can be disabled through the Preferences menu. However, some sexual text may still be visible.
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Development log
- Build One: Paradise Part One59 days ago
Comments
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This visual novel is a blast so far! Fun characterization, great humour, and a wild plot so far, with charming sprites. Rhettoe is a creator that takes big swings with their art, and that comes across in some really impressive sequences, like the Paradise movie and the gate scene; every VN they make drips with love and heart (and viscera).
That was kinda fun. Richie dying to a truck at the start was probably the type of shock horror humor the dev was talking about lol
Weird though, i didn't see the guy on the first 10 or so members we know
Definitely interested what happens next, the group almost started murdering each other even before they found out they were trapped.. so they will definitely have trouble cooperating. Mc could cooperate with his ex-bf i guess.. but that might make his fiancee get sus. There's 2 haters, a priest who will probably try praying the evil away, and maybe more members we didn't see yet. (assuming the game keeps the kill count rate, we'll run out of cast members pretty quickly otherwise)
Slight spoilers:
The Showmaster is so real, cause I too would crash out if anyone else criticizes a movie I love.
'accurate depictions of Midwestern cities' Deer god...
Looking forward to more of this, great job so far!
Man this is so immediately gripping and the presentation is amazing, great job!
Great start to the story! The opening made me :o and then had another one later on lmao Look forward to what's coming next!
Fascinating fascinating. Spoilers below because it's gonna be hard to keep any of this spoiler free:
I really liked the cinematic opening for one, I think you're really good at capturing atmosphere in your vns and it best shines through in places like this I think. And I have to wonder if the song choice of Daisy Bell connects to anything, I can't think of a thread for it yet but that could be because it's just so early on right now.
Onto characters; I know I'm probably not supposed to but I can't help but like Philip. Sometimes you just need a good asshole character who's actually making some decent points about the crazy guy who is essentially holding them all prisoner. I also like what he represents with him being the type of movie critic that is overtly negative about everything, those people are so annoying irl but in this fictitious scenario where the pov character is a more positive minded cinephile himself who seems to focus a lot on the feelings that the movie leaves him with, I can't help but think having a "stone cold facts" type character like Philip around could lead to something interesting there. Also the "I Hate Everything" shirt made me laugh.
Jack himself piques my interest in the "I wonder what his issues are" kinda way. The description itself calls him troubled, and besides the nightmares he seems to have something else going on. I <3 mentally ill protagonists so I'm curious to see how deep it goes.
I do also like that out of the two outwardly homophobic guys it's like, different brands of homophobia with them. Simon seems like a "hate the sin not the sinner" type who will say it's wrong to be gay because the Bible and his religion say so, while Frederick seems like he'd hatecrime me if he could get away with it because queer people are this horribly gross and wrong thing to him. He could also have religious reasons we don't know of yet, but I think a lot of people in modern America almost have this like, love for the game type of homophobia, y'know? I know people who aren't really even Christians who just have these beliefs so deeply ingrained into them that hating gay people is almost like a natural reaction. "It's weird, and gross, and unnatural to me, so I'm just going to be a douchebag about it," are the vibes I'm getting.
All the other characters seemed pretty defined by the time we got past the post movie discussion scene and so I was wondering what Guy's deal was gonna be, maybe a crowd follower? Just a normal guy (haha) who doesn't really consider film to be an art form? And then he died and I was like ohhhh.. he's the fresh meat to set up the stakes, nevermind lol.
Since this is very obviously Dante's Inferno themed I like that the characters feel sort of allegorical in a sense like a lot of older stories tended to do. They correspond with the different circles of hell, and they symbolize differing opinions on art as well as just shitty people in today's society. Interested to see where exactly those things are going to go.
And okay, now it's time to present my Showmaster theory.
You're telling me that we're shown a film at a "mystery movie" event that several people were invited to, the guy who owns the theater comes in to open the movie himself for no real reason, the movie credits then say that brothers named Cain and Abel were the ones who directed this movie, the Showmaster then wants everyone to stay to discuss the
definitely not hismovie (note that Sabrina never mentioned anything about a mandatory post movie discussion where they lock everyone inside), and then in the next scene the Showmaster tells Jack that he had a brother. Who was MURDERED.This dude has got to be Cain, or at least the "Cain" in that he killed his brother and was likely one of the co-directors for Paradise, right? Am I crazy?
Anyway, that about sums up my immediate thoughts, and as always I'm very excited to see where your projects lead! <3
Why didn't they tried calling someone?😅 Unless I'm missing something.
I didn't see a year given to show when it takes place, and there hasn't been mention of cellphones. So that + there being no exits I'm assuming there's no way for them to reach anyone, yet/if at all lol
Spoiler warning:
Don't read the bottom. If you know the reference down below, it will spoil the reason the cast is there. It's a quick nice read, so y'all should read it! Now GO!! Come back once you've read it, maybe you'll understand the reference I noticed/connected.
Question/Perspective
Anyways, were the invitations to "everyone" inspired off "The Menu (2022)?" It's also black comedy, and felt oddly similar to that idea while reading, but mixed with you're style of writing of course.
I'm not seeing anything underneath the comments unless I'm missing something? That's an interesting theory though for the cast, that would be pretty cool if u nailed it lol
Spoiler warning!/Explanation of my thinking:
I simply pointed out the story reveals and heavily implies the fact the cast was invited to the Theater. Well, as far as we know, due to limited information.
We know, thanks to Toby in the bathroom scene, that Jack (The protagonist) wasn't given an invitation to the theater. He came on his own accord due to his sister's (Sabrina) suggestion.
Toby revealed in a bathroom scene that: he, Paula and Frederick got an invitation.
Guy's "invitation" came to light when Jack fished his ticket out of his dead body. It had 7 holes (more on that later)
So far we know only: Paula, Toby, and Frederick have gotten an INVIATION. Maybe Guy too, but it's odd because Jack only found his TICKET, NOT an invitation letter. But for now it can be implied Guy was also invited to the theater. Jack found Toby's ticket inside the invitation letter with 2 holes, that's why I assume Guy also has a invitation.
As for the holes on each ticket. Honestly I don't know. Jack had 1 hole on his ticket, Toby had 2, Paula had 4, Frederick had "6" (Toby isn't sure if it's 6), and Guy had 7. We can imply we are missing 3, 5, and maybe 8 (or 1)? These would or should cover Barry, Simon and Philip.
(Keep in mind, Jack was GIVEN a punched ticket with one hole by the snake in front of the Dante Theater. The interaction between them was a bit off, but nothing definitive can be implied or concluded. So maybe someone else has 1 punched hole?)
It's clear they probably mean something, but I don't know enough (or I'm too dumb) to piece it together. Reading and agreeing to a top comment, it could very well be inspired off Dante's inferno layers (Which could also explain the name of the theater "Dante Theater" lol). Which if correct, Guy would be Violence (makes sense), Paula would be Greed (Toby is from a rich family), Frederick may be heresy, Toby is Lust (makes sense...), and Jack would be Limbo (the least punished circle of hell). The part of the novel is called "Paradise" to be fair.
Maybe Simon is 8 holes, the circle of hell for Fraud? False Prophet? He is a pastor at Papillion.
Etc.
I pointed out that the invitations seem very similar to the movie detail in "The Menu(2022)" Where everyone got invited to the location, but the protagonist (Margot Mills) wasn't - effectively kinda ruining the chef's plan. We could compare the Chef from the movie to the Showmaster.
TLDR: The cast, except the protagonist, probably got invited for a reason.
Ooh Dante's Inferno layers corresponding to punch holes could be interesting, then it could get into a bit of like the Saw films where Jigsaw was watching them and gathered those he thought needed to learn a lesson and all that. So i think ur deff onto something there!
Especially thinking of the idea it mirrors The Menu with Jack either A. ruining plans, B. being one to either help the others through potential trials to come (If it ends up like Saw and they represent a different sin) or C. showing The Showmaster that there are some who can appreciate art for what it is and see it's parallels to real life.
Awesome theory crafting there. Can't wait to see what comes next :3
A nice read so far cant wait for more