Review: ‘Corporate Retreat’ cuts corporate culture down to size

The horrors of a corporate retreat are nothing new—Final Destination 5, The Conference, and Severance quickly come to mind. In director Aaron Fisher’s very capable hands, though, the corporate retreat finds new life in his latest film, the aptly titled Corporate Retreat. Possessing the tone of Brandon Christensen’s Superhost, Fisher’s film configures terrible people trapped in gnarly setpieces. Generational hierarchy, exploitation, blind fanaticism, and greed funnel into the story, bolstering its strong thematic foundation. Out of that, there grows a campy, silly, and outrageous good time.

A group of high-level executives—Cliff (Elias Kacavas), Carl (Ashton Sanders), Omar (Tyler Alvarez), Billie (Kirby Johnson), Aubrey (Ellen Toland), Devin (Benjamin Norris), and Deborah (Rosanna Arquette)—all travel to a lavish, secluded estate for some team-building. Cliff lies to his girlfriend Ginger (Odeya), claiming the trip is their romantic getaway, and ropes her into the exercises. The characters are your stock archetypes (the douchebag, the smart woman, the betrayer, etc.), which makes it all the more satisfying to see them die. Their retreat experience guides, Lola (Sasha Lane) and Amber (Zión Moreno), are alluringly perfect. So much so, it’s much like Uncanny Valley.

The company’s former CEO, the playfully menacing Arthur Scott (Alan Ruck), has a bone to pick, as well as some enlightened knowledge to bestow upon the group. Arthur sets up a series of escape room scenarios, in which the group must learn to trust one another and apply their diverse skill sets. But patience is not their strong suit. A blend of Saw and The Menu, the film borrows genre elements without it feeling like a knock-off or a rebranded incarnation of something else. Fisher seeks to entertain, and he does so quite masterfully.

Corporate Retreat arrives as one of those excessively exaggerated films that’ll rub some viewers the wrong way. But through the thematic lens, you gain a greater sense of Fisher’s intent of the story, surrounded by the most obnoxious people on the internet. It’ll be easy to write off the film as unnecessary fluff, but considering all our senses and anxieties are heightened in 2026, sometimes what we really need is to have a little fun. The thematic threads are just a bonus!

Aaron Fisher offers a film that’s both pure entertainment and a compelling conversation piece about our capitalist society. Corporate Retreat doesn’t reinvent the wheel; it simply adjusts conventions to fit a new, fresh skin. With gory, see-it-to-believe-it kill scenes, the film doesn’t skimp on the slasher-esque gore and carnage. You can turn your brain off, or leave it on and dig into its themes. There’s no harm in having your cake and eating it, too.