Four friends travel to a lakeside cabin for a carefree weekend, the fun turns into a nightmare when 3 of them end up locked in a hot sauna. Every minute counts and every degree matters as they fight for their lives in the heat up to 247°F.
This movie contains examples of:
- Artistic License – Physics: Ian mentions that due to them breaking open the window, the thermostat will register lower temperatures than it should, thus keeping the heater on for longer. In reality, as the thermostat is placed so high up in the room, it wouldn't make much difference.
- Bait-and-Switch: Jenna's pill-scene coming off the heels of sexual discussion makes it seem like she's taking birth control. It's anti-depressants.
- Bittersweet Ending: Everyone other than Ian survives and it's implied Renee will confess to Jenna. However, the film ends with Michael an emotional wreck and Wade dealing with the legal fallout; the results of which are left vague.
- Doing It Wrong: You don't go to sauna in your underwear, swimsuit is more reasonable and nude is the norm.
- Dysfunction Junction: Michael's a drunk pervert, Jenna is a manic-depressive narcissist and Renee is a Shrinking Violet that can't take up for herself. The only member of the friend-group resembling well-adjusted is Ian. His vice ends up being pent-up stress, which kills him.
- Failsafe Failure:
- Most sauna doors are made of glass and feature wide gaps around the edges in order to avoid getting stuck in the frame and allow for fresh air to circulate in. At least the door opens outwards, this is so a fainted person on the inside couldn't block the door for potential rescuers.
- Most sauna heaters have at least some sort of an override on the heater itself if it's automatically operated, not manually fueled in which case the fuel will run out at some point.
- The heater should not default to maximum heat if the input from the thermostat is cut off.
- Gas Chamber: The sauna becomes one when Ian loses it and knocks the heater over, leaving an exposed pipe pumping natural gas into the room.
- Handsome Lech: The movie is not shy about Michael's strong physique....Or his strong libido. His inability to control himself while drunk is causing a rift between him and Renee.
- Heroic Dog: The dog is the only living thing to hear the screams of those trapped in the sauna, and attempts to bring people to rescue them. Unfortunately, he gets simply dismissed by all the humans, declaring that he is simply "acting up".
- Hollywood Mid-Life Crisis: Ian is implied to be going through one.
- Idiot Ball:
- Ian, as a physicist, should understand the concept of hot air rising up. Lying down on the floor of a sauna keeps you relatively cool, no matter how hot it is, especially with a stone floor.
- Whoever designed the sauna must have been holding one, as the numerous safety flaws, all of which are triggered by the trio, are astounding. Really, a natural gas burner that has no way to turn it off?
- Improvisational Ingenuity: Renee's solution to dealing with the gas-leak caused by her breaking the control-panel is to stretch the fabric of her towel and use it to plug the exposed pipe shut. She loses consciousness, but it's the choice that keeps her and Jenna alive just long enough for Wade to find and rescue them.
- It's All About Me: Jenna insists multiple times that she is better than everyone else because she "has a life" and thus everyone else should be focused on rescuing her, rather than saving their own lives.
- Never Trust a Trailer: The trailer and synopsis all make the film seem like the deadly issue is the heat and dehydration they will face being trapped in a 247 degree sauna. In reality, the characters are only in the sauna for a few hours and the only death ends up being a result of frustration getting the better of Ian.
- No Antagonist: They are trapped in the sauna simply by an honest (though dumb) mistake.
- No Medication for Me: Jenna's decision to not take her medication causes her to lash out at Ian and Renee repeatedly in the sauna.
- No OSHA Compliance: If the Failsafe Failure section doesn't convince you what a death-trap the titular sauna is, what will?
- Only Sane Man: Out of the three trapped in the sauna, Ian is the only one that attempts to implement solutions and keep morale up while Jenna and Renee slowly turn on one another. None of his solutions do much good and stress gets the better of him. He takes out his frustrations on the heater, which explodes and kills him.
- Out of the Frying Pan: Out of the Sauna of Death and into a gas chamber.
- Red Herring: Uncle Wade is shown going out at night with a shovel, before revealing he's setting up fireworks for the party.
- Sauna of Death: The entire premise of the film. Three people are stuck in a sauna and will die from heat stroke if they cannot escape.
- Screaming Woman: When Ian freaks out and starts to attack the heater, Renee just sits there and screams at the top of her lungs for over two minutes, doing absolutely nothing.
- The Alcoholic: Renee complains that Michael is becoming one; he is constantly getting drunk, ruining their plans, and it is killing their relationship.
- The Stoner: Michael loves getting high, and is seen in five different scenes smoking weed.
- Unwitting Instigator of Doom: Michael kicks off the whole plot by absentmindedly knocking stairs across the door while high.
- Walking Shirtless Scene: Michael spends the entirety of the first third of the movie displaying abs and chest.
- Yank the Dog's Chain: Constantly. No matter what the characters do, it always ends up being the wrong choice.
