Series 7: The Contenders

Series 7: The Contenders
Series 7 theatrical poster
Directed by	Daniel Minahan
Produced by	Jason Kliot Katie Roumel Christine Vachon Joana Vicente
Written by	Daniel Minahan
Starring	Brooke Smith Glenn Fitzgerald Marylouise Burke Richard Venture Michael Kaycheck Merritt Wever Susan Shopmaker
Narrated by	Will Arnett
Music by	Girls Against Boys
Cinematography	Randy Drummond
Edited by	Malcolm Jamieson
Distributed by	USA Films
Release date	20 January 2001, (Sundance film festival) 2 March 2001
Running time	87 mins
Country	United States
Language	English

20 January 2001, (Sundance film festival)

Series 7: The Contenders is a 2001 dark comedy directed by Daniel Minahan. The movie is presented as a marathon of the seventh series of an American reality television show called The Contenders, where six people, picked at random from a national lottery, are each given a pistol and forced to hunt and kill each other for the cameras. The film is a dark satire of the reality television genre. It stars Brooke Smith as Dawn, the reigning champion from the fifth and sixth series.

The film is shot in the style of a reality TV series. Five new contestants are selected in a random lottery and, along with the winner of the previous series, comprise the six Contenders. The film purposely leaves many key details unexplained, as the viewer is supposed to be watching only what the creators actually aired in the fictional TV show. How the show became so powerful as to randomly select people to be killed is unexplained, but the Contenders treat it as something they cannot control. Contenders are given a pistol, though they may acquire other weapons, and the last one left alive is the winner. Contestants are forced to play the game, regardless of their wishes. A contender who wins three tours of the game is freed from it.

Each series of The Contenders is played in the limits of a city or town. Series 7 is set in Newbury, Connecticut, the hometown of Dawn Lagarto (Brooke Smith), the current and longest reigning champion. She has won two tours and just needs to win one more to be set free. Dawn is eight months pregnant and hopes to win the game for her baby. The show hosts a lottery, with Contenders chosen by whichever social security number appears. The five contenders selected are:

Series 7 begins with a recap of the end of Series 6: the opening scene shows the heavily pregnant Dawn enter a convenience store and fatally shoot a man in a seemingly random act. The show credits then roll, its rules are explained in voice-over narration, and the contenders are introduced. Interview segments interspersed with several of the contenders' early attempts to attack each other offer insight and background on the contenders. Most unusually, Dawn and Jeffrey already know each other. They were high school sweethearts, breaking up after Dawn had an abortion and Jeffrey came to believe he was gay. Jeffrey, now married to Doria (Angelina Phillips), and Dawn meet, and the terminally ill Jeffrey asks Dawn to kill him. Dawn agrees and leaves to procure drugs, so Jeffrey can painlessly overdose.