The Box (Review)

It’s so rare for a film to try to scare its viewers without the use of disembowelment, decapitation, dismemberment, excessive blood vis-à-vis various levels of exposure of the female body, ear-grating sound design, lurid visuals, gimmicks, excessive editing leading to supposedly prolonged suspense, some horribly disgusting or disfigured movie monster of some kind, or well, just some cheap chase scenes with sharp objects. In Richard Kelly’s adaptation of horror/fantasy master Richard Matheson’s “Button, Button,” Kelly does the source material proud by delivering chills not through large, big effects, but through the small, creeping, and creepy moments.

Starting where the short story and classic Twilight Zone episode do, in the home of a married couple, Kelly then quickly introduces many elements and pushes his narrative well beyond anything in the source material, creating something new and even more viciously terrifying. Maintaining a tone of subtlety, the revelations in Kelly’s film may not always make clean logical sense, but they leave us at the edge of our seats, holding onto the narrative as the rest of the world spirals into madness.

The film’s set up, like the rest of it, is deceptively simple. There is a box. There is a button on the box. If you press the button, you will receive one million dollars and someone (whom you do not know) will die.

But we see that this is not merely a box, that the offer is not as simple as it seems, and that the offering of this box to the couple has much larger repercussions than they could have ever imagined.

Richard Kelly, probably best-known for Donnie Darko, which is commonly described as a royal mind-f@#%, has assembled yet another mind-f&*# for viewers. Those familiar with his earlier work will recognize a number of shots, framings, and images which seem key to Kelly’s style. But while this seems to occupy the same universe, and the film, its characters, and setting, seem to have similar undertones of the sinister, The Box stands on its own as an eerie, haunting film that will run chills down the spines and stick to viewers like the best of Twilight Zone episodes.

Set in American suburbia, with some familiar Kelly settings like the preppie high school, The Box shows a small American town that slowly goes from nicely quiet and detached from the city, to creepily removed and inhabiting its own reality. When the seemingly supernatural begin to occur in the sleepy town and citizens take on the pallor and demeanor of a Lovecraftian nightmare, we know that there is something definitely wrong.

The outstanding Frank Langella, following up his Oscar-nominated turn as Richard Nixon, plays Arlington Steward, who offers the box. When asked about it, he mysteriously references his employers, and says that any mention of them would make his offer, and any chances of getting the million dollars, void. Langella plays his role with the right parts of enigmatic and eerie. He speaks straight, is almost charming in his directness, and yet hints at such darker depths.

Though James Marsden can barely hold his own in scenes with Langella, as it is much like those first confrontations between Frost and Nixon in Frost/Nixon where David Frost is left looking lost and unable to match his opponent on any level, he does a passable job in scenes with co-star Cameron Diaz. Diaz, who has been recognized at times for her ability for depth, plays off of Langella well, and she has some great scenes. There are some moments between Marsden and Diaz when the film falls into the saccharine trap, but these are forgivable in the context of the larger narrative.

The rest of the cast is mostly incidental, or exists merely to move the plot forward or just look really freaky. Around the couple, townspeople start to act in a scary dazed manner, or suffer from inexplicable nosebleeds. The effect, of normal-looking people acting in such maniacal ways, is jarring and scares even more effectively than anything that a slasher flick has to offer. No monsters or gore necessary here, as the film effectively delivers the stuff of nightmares though good set ups, well-executed shots, and simple acting.

There are more explanations here than can be found in Donnie Darko, but its truths are nonetheless just as elusive. It doesn’t demand being re-watched, but it does ask that we broaden our minds and reconsider the world around us (or at least the world as created in the film). A rather constant return to a quote from Arthur C. Clarke becomes a telling touchstone to understanding the film, and helps to neatly brush away logical inconsistencies.

In the first half hour or so, The Box moves at a slow, almost languorous pace, as we are introduced to the primary characters as they go through one of the worst days of their lives, the same day that the box arrives on their doorstep. No big scenes at the start, no running and getting the audience excited. In the opening section of the film, it takes its time, telling us these people’s stories. There is no doubt in my mind that this may leave impatient viewers antsy, but it’s in its deliberate speed (or lack thereof) that The Box builds towards its scares, by establishing the world that this couple knows, and then slowly, mercilessly, bringing it crashing down around them.

Once the film moves into its second act we are plunged into a world of fear and doubt which may just be paranoia, but may actually be something larger and scarier. There are moments when one would prefer that it were just paranoia, as the alternatives are much much worse. Control of their lives is wrested away from the couple, and we see how they try to handle it. Meanwhile, the revelations start coming, and with each revelation one wishes only to turn back the clock, wishes that none of this ever happened.

By the end of the film, viewers (if they invested the attention that the film deserves) come away exhausted, after having been subjected to an hour and a half-long exercise in suspense and fear. The Box won’t change anyone’s life. No one will be quoting memorable lines from this film. But within what it sets out to do, which is to transport us to a totally different world and tell us a terrifying story, The Box is powerful and effective. In its subtlety, it causes the viewer to forget everything about their own world, the viewers’ consciousnesses inhabiting this world of Matheson’s and Kelly’s design. And like the best of Twilight Zone’s episodes, it leaves us feeling like we are stronger for having survived a traumatic ordeal, while at the same time implanting in us this gnawing fear of a world that may exist just at the fringes of ours.

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