Solver
Directed by Xandy Smith
Luke, a young professional in New York City, learns his grandfather has disappeared under strange circumstances and is presumed dead. When he arrives at his grandfather's remote cabin, he finds a series of clues and puzzles, each more baffling than the last. With the help of a woman from his past and an eccentric sidekick, he must unravel the puzzle before someone else gets to the dark secret it hides.
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Solver Ratings & Reviews
- jackmeatJanuary 12, 2026My quick rating - 3.7/10. Solver is a movie that tries to merge a mystery thriller with an escape room adventure, but fails on many of the important points. Though it seems to be an interesting premise in which Luke's grandfather disappears, and thus the unraveling of clues and puzzles, the execution very much lacks the real pace. First, the biggest negative is subpar acting. The acting from the cast, especially John Ruby as Luke, was quite shallow and did not manage to get my attention at all. The lack of enthusiasm in the dialogue and the unconvincing emotions that shine through make it difficult to relate to any of the characters or become invested in their journey. The escape room element of the movie that should have added so much excitement and tension ends up being surprisingly dull. The puzzles and obstacles that Luke and his sidekick Alex (Kerry Knuppe), whom he accompanies on his journey, face in order to complete their objectives in the story tend to be quite predictable and lack complexity in order to fascinate the viewers effectively. Whenever the pair wants to quit, one of them always spots another puzzle. Thus, the movie is unable to evoke the needed element of urgency and excitement right from the start when such is needed. While the start of the movie is very intriguing, the entire thing ends up being very convoluted and left me disappointed when there should be a much-needed payoff. This is the case when the flow of the movie does not even make sense to the point that I was left very perplexed and not very interested. This is what leads to the laughable result that comes from the attempt to force in a dark secret, which ends up being very ineffective. Overall, it left a very forgettable impression and is unlikely to become an entry in the mystery/thriller genre that you want to bother with.
Solver Trivia
Solver was released on October 26, 2017.
Solver was directed by Xandy Smith.
Solver has a runtime of 89m.
Solver was produced by John Ruby, Jack Kelley.
Luke, a young professional in New York City, learns his grandfather has disappeared under strange circumstances and is presumed dead. When he arrives at his grandfather's remote cabin, he finds a series of clues and puzzles, each more baffling than the last. With the help of a woman from his past and an eccentric sidekick, he must unravel the puzzle before someone else gets to the dark secret it hides.
The key characters in Solver are Luke Williams (John Ruby), Alex Derringer (Kerry Knuppe), Demien LeBlanc (Antonio Jaramillo).
Solver is an Adventure, Mystery, Thriller film.
Solver has an audience rating of 2.5 out of 10.