If someone planted a box on your doorstep, and told you that pressing the button on it would make you one million richer, but someone you don’t know somewhere in the world would die what would you do?
That’s the basic premise of The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as married couple Norma and Arthur in 70s Virginia. Norma is a teacher and Arthur works as a scientist at NASA, they have a young son Walter, and lead a typical family life. They’re also a bit strapped for cash, and are curious when a box randomly appears outside their house. They eventually meet the disfigured Mr Stewart, who offers them the chance to be wealthy in exchange for a stranger’s life. This leads to an ethical conundrum of epic proportions, as they must determine whether they should do right by society or right by themselves. Norma decides the push the button, but the consequences are a little too close to home.
Richard Kelly, known for directing Donnie Darko, sets the eerie, retro theme perfectly, and anyone with an appreciation of movie-making will have plenty to be impressed by in this movie. If you pay attention, you’ll notice the detail of each scene, and how so much can be said without the use of dialogue. Kelly himself grew up in Virginia and his father worked for NASA, and he was also inspired by a short story written in the 70s, so it’s not hard to see where he got the concept from. The colours of the movie are toned down, in keeping with the 70s theme and also as a symbol for the sinister plot, and there’s something distinctly bare about the picture.
It provides plenty of food for thought: how an ethically sound person could defy their own belief system in return for money, and the consequences of such. So clearly karma doesn’t care if you were good in your past, it’s what happens now that counts, and the people in charge are all too aware of that. The characters have depth too; Norma is pathetic as she walks with a limp due to a radiation accident that severed some of her toes, and Arthur is a sympathetic character who adores his family.
I won’t give anything away, but the twist in the story does seem a little too convenient, with some open ends remaining. It starts off so strong, wonderfully weird and unpredictable, I wanted it to get better and better. Sadly it gets a bit silly, unable to decide if it’s a horror, thriller, or just science fiction, but it’s definitely incapable of combining these genres.
It’s certainly in the same league as The Twilight Zone as it’s not conventionally scary, rather it’s just consistently creepy, and it will probably wind up being a totally forgettable film. However I did enjoy it, despite its impracticalities, I just didn’t find it brilliant.
The Box is a dark, atmospheric movie, and if I were pushed I’d call it a science fiction thriller. There are other words I could use but it would give away the plot, so I’ll keep schtum.