With a delicious premise at its heart, I Know Exactly How You Die looks intriguing on paper, but its execution is so poor that it fails to convey its own inner logic with any satisfaction.

Hack writer Rian (Rushabh Patel) checks into a seedy motel to write his latest slasher novel, while coming to terms with breaking up with his girlfriend. The protagonist of his book appears as the traumatised Sarah (Stephanie Hogan) on the run from a stalker. The stalker inevitably shows up in the motel and whatever Rian writes becomes reality.

With influence from films like Stranger Than Fiction and Ruby Sparks, the set up is a good one but it falls flat very quickly, firstly with terrible acting from Patel and even more so from Rawya El Chap as motel owner Naja – both coming straight out of an amateur dramatic class. Then there’s the execution. We don’t see Rian writing down the information, he just has to tell us he came up with it first, like a childish lie. There is an interesting plot point about the motel having a prescient ability, but it’s forgotten about and the last act is messy. The film does do a good job of using its location to build tension, and the spots of humour with Rian’s girlfriend and agent are a welcome addition, but when we need the film to be clever, it tips into student film dramatics.

This is the first feature film from director Alexandra Spieth and writer Mike Corey, who have come up with a really interesting setup but haven’t been able to execute it correctly. Here at STARBURST, we applaud anyone who ventures into this tough industry, but it’s back to the drawing board for their sophomore feature.

I KNOW EXACTLY HOW YOU DIE is available now on Prime Video.