The Box

"You are the experiment."

2009 1h 55m EN

😐

5.6

MID

🥫

42%

ROTTEN

😬

METACRITIC

⭐

5.6

IMDB

★5.6TMDB · 1,956🥫42%Rotten Tomatoes●47Metacritic★5.6IMDB · 96,914

ThrillerScience Fiction

Synopsis

Spoiler shield

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.

“You are the experiment.”

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Cast

Cameron Diaz
Norma Lewis
James Marsden
Arthur Lewis
Frank Langella
Arlington Steward
James Rebhorn
Norm Cahill
Holmes Osborne
Dick Burns
Sam Oz Stone
Walter Lewis
Gillian Jacobs
Dana
Celia Weston
Lana Burns

Credits

Behind the camera

Director: Richard Kelly
Writers: Richard Matheson, Richard Kelly, Andrew Garcia-Price
Languages: English
Countries: United States of America

Want more? Switch to Cinephile mode in the header for DP, composer, budget, box office, production companies, keywords, and release history.

Did you know?

Fun facts 🍿

1 / 8

ERA

Did you know

Released 17 years ago.

MoodPlayr · trivia#01

2 / 8

CAST

Did you know

423+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.

MoodPlayr · trivia#02

3 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Directed by Richard Kelly, shot by Steven Poster. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.

MoodPlayr · trivia#03

4 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Original score by Owen Pallett. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.

MoodPlayr · trivia#04

5 / 8

DIRECTOR

Did you know

Editor Sam Bauer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.

MoodPlayr · trivia#05

6 / 8

CAST

Did you know

Cameron Diaz and James Marsden and Frank Langella carry the top of the cast.

MoodPlayr · trivia#06

7 / 8

FACT

Did you know

Marketing tagline: "You are the experiment.".

MoodPlayr · trivia#07

8 / 8

WILD

Did you know

IMDB entry: tt0362478 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.

MoodPlayr · trivia#08

Cinephile deep dive

The take

Richard Kelly directs. Steven Poster behind the camera. Owen Pallett scores. Sam Bauer cuts. Profitable at the box office. Produced in United States of America. Dialogue in English.

Trivia

Things worth knowing

1Released 17 years ago.
2423+ people credited in cast and crew — a small city's worth of labour.
3Directed by Richard Kelly, shot by Steven Poster. Note their partnership — DPs and directors often return to each other across a career.
4Original score by Owen Pallett. Worth a dedicated listen after — most great films lose half their impact without the score.
5Editor Sam Bauer shaped the rhythm. On an edit-heavy film, the editor does more to control your pulse than the director.
6Cameron Diaz and James Marsden and Frank Langella carry the top of the cast.
7Marketing tagline: "You are the experiment.".
8IMDB entry: tt0362478 — still the authoritative cross-reference for credits and trivia.
9Classified under 22 themes, including "research", "husband wife relationship", "experiment", "sacrifice".

The technical file

Cinematography: Steven Poster
Original score: Owen Pallett
Editing: Sam Bauer
Production design: Alec Hammond
Costume design: April Ferry
Makeup / hair: Paula Dion
VFX supervisor: Kent Seki
Sound: Rick Hernandez
Stunt coordinator: Blaise Corrigan
Runtime: 115 min · 1h 55m
Aspect ratio (typical): 1.37:1 (Academy)
Status: Released
Budget: $30,000,000
Box office: $33,333,531
Return: 111% of budget
Original language: EN
Certification (US): PG-13
IMDB: The Box (2009)
Rotten Tomatoes: 42% 🥫 Rotten
Metacritic: 47/100
IMDB rating: 5.6/10 · 96,914 votes
MPAA: PG-13

Awards

1 win & 6 nominations total

Also by

Richard Kelly

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Wallpaper

Trailers & featurettes

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Community reviews

What people are saying

John Chard2015-05-31
★ 6/10
If you push the button, two things will happen. The best quote I ever saw as regards Richard Kelly's The Box, was that it is a Marmite movie. Marmite is a food substance that people either love or hate, The Box is a Marmite movie. Cameron Diaz and James Marsden star as a couple who are visited by a mysterious stranger (Frank Langella) who has a bizarre offer. The Box now in the couple's possession has a button (Langella's mysterious Arlington Steward informs them it's called the Button Unit), they are told that if they push the button then a complete stranger will die, they will then receive a life changing amount of money. What to do?. Based on a Richard Matheson short story titled "Button, Button", The Box is an ethereal mind meld of a piece. Morals and ethics are married up to a whole bunch of twists and other worldly ideas, which goes some way to explaining that where once there was a more than adequate half hour "Twilight Zone" episode (Profile in Silver/Button, Button 1986), there is now a near two hour movie crammed to the brim. It's this that hurts an otherwise stylishly produced and potentially thoughtful picture. After the raves and craves for his "Donnie Darko (2001)", Richard Kelly appeared to believe the press praise, that here was a new surreal director on the block. Where "M. Night Shyamalan" had success with the twist gimmick and couldn't let it go until his career went in the swamp, so to Kelly who kept straining to make movies that were needlessly over complex, trying to be smart when it isn't needed ("Southland Tales (2006)" is a car wreck of a movie). The Box does have intelligence and lots of good ideas, but a two hour film it does not make, with the attempts at weaving all the threads together proving to be too problematic come the finale. Incredulity a most appropriate word, plausibility is not. The Box, an intriguing - attractive - failure, but some do and will love it. If you haven't seen it then roll the dice and good luck. 6/10 Footnote: We have yet to actually get an adaptation to screen that contains Matheson's original literary ending!

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