The Box
2009 · Directed by Richard Kelly
Original language: English
- thriller
- science fiction
The story
Norma and Arthur Lewis, a suburban couple with a young child, receive a simple wooden box as a gift, which bears fatal and irrevocable consequences. A mysterious stranger delivers the message that the box promises to bestow upon its owner $1 million with the press of a button. However pressing this button will simultaneously cause the death of another human being somewhere in the world; someone they don't know. With just 24 hours to have the box in their possession, Norma and Arthur find themselves in the cross-hairs of a startling moral dilemma and must face the true nature of their humanity.
What it’s like
Warm, sun-faded 1970s Virginia: ochre and burnt-orange interiors, avocado kitchens, and hazy late-afternoon light falling through blinds, all framed in patient, symmetrical shots that let a room sit still before anything moves in it. Richard Kelly lingers on empty corridors, a dim NASA control room, and the quiet hum of machinery, while an ambient score of pulsing synths and soft, unsettled drones keeps the air faintly wrong. Pacing is deliberate and eerie, building through long silences to sudden jolts of violence and a few stark, unpleasant images that land hard and then retreat. The tone is paranoid and melancholy, with a moral unease that tightens around a marriage under strain and a couple slowly confronting what they would do for money. Intensity runs moderate: a death at the centre of the story, brief but sharp violence, and one or two grisly moments with disfigurement, though nothing sustained or gratuitous, and no sexual content. It suits a late, unsettled night in, or anyone who likes slow-burn science-fiction dread with a retro look and an ambiguous, uncomfortable ending. It is not gentle, and it asks for attention.
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