In Blame the Game, Pia’s new boyfriend, Jan, joins her for a game night with her friends, but things take a turn for the worse when Pia’s ex-boyfriend unexpectedly shows up. The film is now streaming on Netflix.
Warning: This article contains heavy spoilers
Plot summary
While walking his dog in the park, Jan meets a photographer named Pia. Soon after their first meeting, they start dating.
After dating for over a month, Pia invites Jan to one of her regular game nights with her friends, held at her best friend Karo’s house.
Karo is a rich and successful businesswoman who has offered Pia a job. She has a daughter named Emma with her husband, Oliver, a teacher who enjoys fantasy games.
Karo’s brother, Kurt, who has long overstayed his welcome at her house, and Sheila, a pharmacist hung up on her ex-girlfriend, are also part of their group.
Jan never went to college. He owns a bicycle store with his best friend, Alex, and is not wealthy like Pia’s friends, so he already has a difficult time fitting in with them.
He tries to make a good first impression on Karo, but his efforts backfire. Additionally, Karo’s friends, especially Oliver, are mean to him.
While taking a call in the study, Jan accidentally releases Oliver’s precious pet cockatoo. He also alarms Alex on the phone.
Alex shows up at Karo’s house, thinking that Jan is in danger. Jan then tasks Alex with sneaking around the yard to find the bird.
While trying to reenter the house, Jan discovers that Karo makes their au pair, Gabriela, cook and takes credit for it to seem like she can efficiently manage both work and household chores.
Then, Pia’s ex-boyfriend, Matthias, shows up to their game night, making things awkward for Pia and Jan. Oliver invited Matthias without informing anyone.
Pia does not want to upset Jan, so she suggests that they both leave, but Jan refuses, not wanting to look like Matthias scared him off.
Matthias makes it evident that he wants to get back together with Pia. With Oliver’s help, he keeps trying to prove that he is better than Jan, constantly humiliating Jan with barbs.
He even shows Jan pictures of himself with Pia and reveals that they were engaged, which shocks Jan because Pia had not yet told Jan about it.
As the night progresses, Matthias’ provocations work, and Jan’s anger grows, making the game night increasingly uncomfortable for everyone present.
Ending explained:
The breaking point
Tensions peak when the group plays the game Jan brought. Oliver gets offended for being chosen for the worst things.
He abandons the game night, dresses up as one of his fantasy characters, and reveals all of his and Karo’s problems to their friends, embarrassing them both.
The group discovers that Karo has been taking stimulants. When Karo accuses Oliver of cheating on her with Gabriela, Oliver refuses to argue anymore.
Excluding Oliver, the group plans to continue playing their games. However, Matthias and Jan get into a fight, neither willing to back down.
Karo then suggests they play a game of naked ping-pong to win Pia, which they agree to despite Pia’s clear disapproval.
While trying to defeat Matthias, Jan starts acting like him, annoying Pia. Jan wins the game, which means Matthias must drink a bottle of chili sauce.
This leads to an argument between Jan and Pia. It ends with Matthias revealing that Pia kissed him recently, which upsets and angers Jan.
Realization of feelings
Jan storms out of Karo’s house and asks Alex, who had been looking for Oliver’s bird all this while, to give up and leave with him.
Alex had dropped his keys in Karo’s neighbor’s yard, and when Alex and Jan go to retrieve them, they get trapped in a boar trap.
While stuck in the trap, Jan realizes that Pia is the woman of his dreams and that he is serious about their relationship. He now wants to apologize to Pia.
Fortunately, Karo’s neighbor finds them and releases them. The neighbor has also found Oliver’s bird.
Jan and Alex take the bird to Karo’s house, only to find out that Pia and her friends have gone to the zoo to stop Matthias from killing a tiger for Pia.
From chaos to closure
On their way to the zoo, Pia and her friends get to have an honest conversation, thanks to all the revelations made that night.
Sheila reveals that she has been giving Karo placeboes instead of stimulants, refusing to let her friend rely on drugs.
Karo takes stimulants and tries to maintain the façade of being perfect and efficient because she believes that everyone sees her as a workaholic.
Pia assures her that she respects everything Karo has achieved and emphasizes that she does not want to work with her because she wants to follow her own path.
After discussing their problems, they break into the zoo to rescue Matthias. Jan, Alex, and Kurt also arrive there to help.
Jan risks his life by climbing down into the tiger enclave to save Matthias. When his life is in danger, Jan apologizes to Pia and tells her he was afraid of losing her to Matthias.
Pia confesses that she regrets kissing Matthias, but the kiss made her realize that she only has feelings for Jan, which leads to their reconciliation.
Pia and the others save Jan. They then find out that Matthias never climbed into the tiger enclave, resulting in Pia and her friends turning against him.
Seeing Pia and Jan together, Oliver reveals to Karo that he never cheated on her; Gabriela has been teaching him to dance for Karo.
This results in Karo promising to take more interest in Oliver’s fantasy games and asking Kurt, whose presence bothers Oliver, to move out to give her and Oliver privacy.
Sheila finally talks with her ex-girlfriend and gets over her, leading to Matthias revealing that he was the one who sent her ex-girlfriend a text from her phone and blamed it on Jan.
Despite the disastrous game night, it has a happy ending for everyone. Jan becomes part of Pia’s friend group, and they hold the next game night at Jan’s house.