Corporate team-building events are usually a nightmare. Icebreakers, PowerPoint slides about “synergy,” and Karen from accounting weeping because she lost at charades. But what if HR decided to take you on a company retreat where instead of trust falls you get actual falls into bear traps, and instead of awkward karaoke you get chased by armed poachers? That’s the premise of Christopher Smith’s Severance, a horror-comedy that proves nothing says “bonding experience” quite like watching your coworker get burned alive in the woods.
And you know what? It’s brilliant.
HR Policies, But Make It Fatal
The movie follows the European Sales division of Palisade Defence, a military arms manufacturer. Already, that’s a corporate culture that screams “ethics last seen in the Jurassic period.” They’re sent on a retreat in the Hungarian wilderness, supposedly to relax, but end up trapped in a derelict lodge that looks like an Airbnb run by Satan’s janitor.
Their bus driver abandons them after refusing to take a sketchy dirt road, which honestly is the first smart decision anyone makes in the entire film. Naturally, the group wanders into the woods anyway because nothing bonds coworkers quite like ignoring every survival instinct and following the loudest idiot in the group.
What follows is a glorious disaster of corporate incompetence, bloodshed, and machete-wielding poachers who are basically Glassdoor reviews with shotguns.
The Cast of Characters: Corporate Archetypes With Bonus Dismemberment
The genius of Severance is that each character feels like someone you’ve actually worked with, only with higher odds of stepping on a landmine.
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Richard (Tim McInnerny): The smarmy manager who insists everything is fine while Gordon bleeds out like a human juice box. He later redeems himself by stepping off a landmine to kill poachers, making him the only boss in history who ever sacrificed himself for his employees.
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Gordon (Andy Nyman): The kind of guy who’d bring his own stapler to a retreat. He finds a human tooth in the dinner pie. His leg gets caught in a bear trap. Later, his torso gets branded with the Palisade logo. Honestly, if HR offered hazard pay, Gordon would’ve been CEO.
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Jill (Claudie Blakley): The one sensible employee, which of course means she’s doused in gasoline and set on fire. If you’re ever the voice of reason in a horror movie, you’re basically signing your own resignation letter.
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Harris (Toby Stephens): The cynical guy who spends most of the film rolling his eyes until he’s decapitated. His head literally rolls for him.
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Steve (Danny Dyer): The resident office clown who orders escorts to the retreat. You’d think he’d be first to die, but he somehow makes it out alive. Proof that corporate jesters are bulletproof.
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Maggie (Laura Harris): The Final Girl and the kind of coworker who’d actually respond to your Slack messages. She’s resourceful, tough, and manages to survive both murderous poachers and Danny Dyer’s banter.
The rest are cannon fodder with expense reports.
The Kills: HR Approved Icebreakers
This film doesn’t skimp on gore. It’s equal parts gruesome and hilarious, which is exactly what you want from a horror-comedy.
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Gordon’s bear trap scene? A PSA for never trusting “team hikes.”
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Jill getting torched alive? Harrowing, but also a metaphor for every woman forced to endure workplace mansplaining.
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Harris losing his head via machete? The only time anyone’s ever left a corporate retreat early with dignity.
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Richard’s landmine sacrifice? The rare moment when a middle manager’s decision actually has consequences.
Every death doubles as workplace satire. If you’ve ever wished your office icebreaker game ended in fewer PowerPoints and more explosions, this movie delivers.
Corporate Culture, Now With Cannibal Poachers
What makes Severance so sharp (pun intended) is how it skewers corporate life while splattering the screen with blood. The Palisade Defence employees aren’t just unlucky—they’re complicit. They work for a company that literally makes landmines and nerve gas, then act surprised when karma shows up in a ski mask.
The lodge’s backstory—whether as a Soviet asylum, war criminal re-education center, or poacher prison—varies depending on which character is making things up at dinner. Either way, the message is clear: if you profit from violence, eventually violence clocks in and demands overtime.
It’s horror with a corporate memo attached: “Reminder: All actions have consequences. Also, please clean the human teeth out of the breakroom pies.”
Comedy in Carnage
Balancing comedy with horror is tough, but Severance nails it like a machete through a sales rep’s skull. The humor isn’t forced; it comes from the absurdity of the situation. Employees try to apply office logic to survival—like brainstorming how to open a bear trap as if it were a broken Xerox machine.
Danny Dyer’s Steve is the comedic MVP, somehow managing to be a lovable buffoon even while ordering escorts like they’re company swag. His one-liners cut the tension just enough to make the gore fun instead of oppressive. It’s basically The Office if Michael Scott were replaced by Russian poachers with a flamethrower.
The Real Horror: HR Retreats
Strip away the gore, and Severance is still terrifying because it feels like every mandatory corporate outing. You’re stuck with coworkers you barely tolerate, stranded in a location with terrible Wi-Fi, forced to bond over trust falls and cold meat pies. The only difference here is that instead of playing paintball, people get their heads blown off. Honestly, that’s still preferable to a “motivational speech” from upper management.
The Ending: Corporate Downsizing, Poacher Style
By the finale, only Maggie, Steve, and two escorts survive. George, their boss, shows up with a prototype missile launcher, proving that corporate higher-ups can always be relied upon to escalate things in the worst possible way. Naturally, he blows up a passing passenger jet instead of the enemy. Classic management.
Maggie and Steve finally escape in a rowboat, proving that the best way to survive corporate culture—or murderous poachers—is to get as far away as humanly possible. Preferably somewhere without cell service, HR memos, or landmines.
Final Thoughts: Severance is a Bloody Good Time
Severance is more than just a slasher with office jokes. It’s a biting satire of corporate culture, a gory romp through the Hungarian woods, and a surprisingly clever look at how violence perpetuates itself. Plus, it’s one of the few films where you can watch Danny Dyer survive, which is almost supernatural in itself.
The movie proves that sometimes the best team-building exercise is watching your coworkers get hunted by poachers while you clutch your lukewarm meat pie and mutter, “Should’ve called in sick.”
So yes, it’s gruesome. Yes, it’s ridiculous. And yes, it’s the best HR retreat you’ll ever attend, assuming you survive.
Final Verdict: Severance is a five-star corporate bloodbath—equal parts The Office, Lord of the Flies, and “what if HR really wanted you dead.” Bring a machete, bring a sense of humor, and for God’s sake, skip the meat pie.
Rating: 9 out of 10 exploding missile launchers accidentally aimed at commercial airlines.
