What’s in ‘The Box’?!? Why this cult sci-fi movie is still an intriguing mess after all these years

Richard Kelly is (or, much precisely, was) a polarizing fig successful Hollywood. He only directed 3 movies during his career, nan first being his 2001 cult classical Donnie Darko, which thrust him onto nan world shape arsenic an emerging filmmaker. But past came his sophomoric film, Southland Tales, successful 2006. The movie was a trainwreck, albeit a gloriously absurd trainwreck, that was truthful confusing and clumsy it was booed astatine its Cannes premiere.

Then came Kelly’s 3rd (and final?) film, The Box. Released successful 2009, nan movie starred Cameron Diaz and James Marsden arsenic a down-on-their-luck mates pinch a young son. One day, a mysterious package arrives, revealed to beryllium a container containing a singular button. The pursuing time an moreover much mysterious man (Frank Langella) arrives to explicate nan rules. If they push nan button, they get $1 million… but personification they don’t cognize will die. After a spot of debating, they determine to property nan button.

From there, audiences dive into a crippled involving outer space, lightning strikes, authorities conspiracies, mind control, nan afterlife, and perchance aliens aliases belief deities (the movie ne'er makes it clear which 1 we’re dealing with). The Box received lackluster reviews and only grossed $33 cardinal globally, becoming a box agency bomb. The movie besides serves arsenic Kelly’s past characteristic movie in installments to day (though he has been claiming successful interviews for nan past six years that he has tons of upcoming projects).

Fifteen years aft The Box’s premiere, nan movie is still a murky, muddled mess. But successful classical Richard Kelly style, it has immoderate incredibly captivating aspects, which is why movie fans are still talking astir nan movie aft each these years.

The Box is simply a clunky, funky mess

Southland Tales Universal Pictures

I’ll beryllium wholly honest: I emotion Kelly’s erstwhile movie Southland Tales. I’ve watched nan almost three-hour-long movie astatine slightest six times now, and perfectly emotion nan zaniness of it. The problem is that I’m still not afloat judge what its crippled is. Southland Tales centers astir a fictitious 2008 statesmanlike predetermination and encapsulates tons of issues that were portion of nan 2000s zeitgeist, for illustration ambiance change, wars successful nan Middle East, and nan emergence of Fox News arsenic a propaganda network. But it besides involves nan apocalypse, a future-predicting movie script, a porn star, parallel universes, exploding blimps, floating crystal pick trucks, Bai Ling doing immoderate it is Bai Ling does, and an epic philharmonic number pinch Justin Timberlake.

My constituent is this: Southland Tales is an incomprehensible mess, but there’s truthful overmuch insanity and hilarity happening astir each area that you can’t look away. It’s much circus than movie, and that’s wonderful. Unfortunately, The Box shares Southland’s confusing crippled and bad acting… but it lacks nan bombastic freak show that makes Southland Tales watchable.

Warner Bros.

Instead, it feels for illustration Kelly wanted to beryllium taken earnestly this clip around. It’s for illustration he told nan actors to make their performances much subtle, to make nan crippled reveals little grandiose, and to make nan movie’s vibe consciousness much for illustration a respectable thriller than a hoedown jamboree.

Unfortunately, by trying to make The Box look and consciousness for illustration a convincing, respectable movie, Kelly showed what a genuinely atrocious filmmaker he is. Diaz’s capacity is truthful subdued that I’m convinced she changeable nan full movie connected Xanax, and Marsden seems for illustration he’s only location because of immoderate contractual obligation.

Warner Bros.

The Box tries to enactment for illustration nan mates are conflicted complete whether to property nan fastener aliases not, but some Marsden and Diaz are truthful emotionless and stiff that nan lead-up to nan large “will they aliases won’t they” infinitesimal seems mundane and uninteresting. They fundamentally determine to property nan fastener during a quiet evening successful nan kitchen. “It’s conscionable a box,” Diaz says.

Even worse, conscionable for illustration Southland Tales, aft rewatching The Box I still can’t afloat corroborate what nan crippled is. [Editor’s note: nan pursuing contains spoilers for The Box‘s ending.] In nan finale, nan mysterious man has made their boy deaf and blind, and Marsden must make a choice: Kill Diaz and spell to jail, but springiness his boy his senses backmost (but besides dooming him to beryllium an orphan), aliases bask nan remainder of their life pinch $1 million…but besides pinch a kid who is deaf and blind. Why nan boy ever sewage dragged into this ordeal is unclear since he had thing to do pinch anything. Even much concerning, I’m still not wholly judge what events led to nan finale successful general.

In addition, Marsden goes to a room wherever there’s a bunch of mind-controlled humans. The room besides has a swimming excavation and a elephantine artifact of floating h2o that is simply a doorway to location not intelligibly defined, and there’s thing astir Mars and a outer picking up a awesome that coincided to a lightning onslaught that someway implanted thing wrong Langella’s mysterious man that makes him do what he does. It’s each very vague and very nonsensical.

The Box is simply a puzzle you still want to fig out

Warner Bros.

For immoderate reason, contempt really unquestionably bad nan movie is, there’s still thing astir it that draws you in. And this is nan 1 redeeming grace that Kelly has going for his career. I can’t explicate what it is, it’s conscionable immoderate benignant of je ne sais quoi wrong Kelly’s filmmaking style that makes you genuinely funny astir what nan hellhole is going on.

By each accepted rules of filmmaking, audiences shouldn’t attraction astir Kelly’s films. They break each statement betwixt filmmaker and assemblage imaginable — they discarded our time, they’re sloppily put together, Kelly makes them for himself and not nan viewer, and he remains wholly unapologetic astir his bad movies. We should dislike him and not springiness him immoderate of our clip aliases money. But instead, I support wondering what his movies are about.

I didn’t move The Box disconnected because, contempt really bad it was — nan hook was capable to snag me. I wanted to cognize why this container exists, why these group pressed nan button, and really we ended up pinch a crippled astir conspiracy theories involving aliens (I think) and nan afterlife (I think). Kelly has a measurement of asking questions that drawback your attention. He tin seldom present answers, but nan man surely knows really to tie you in, only adding to nan quagmire that is his career. But possibly that’s why it works? He gives america truthful small coherent accusation that his movies really unit our minds to tally wild, desperately trying to link nan dots, pinch each spectator creating their ain answers.

You should watch The Box astatine slightest once

Warner Bros.

Fifteen years aft nan movie’s premiere, is The Box worthy watching? As overmuch arsenic I loathe nan movie for being some old and confusing, I deliberation each cinephiles should watch it astatine slightest once. The Box is loaded pinch awesome ideas, they’re each conscionable executed terribly. But those ideas are capable to snag your liking and make you wonderment what nan deeper meaning is. And for that, I deliberation Kelly, whether he intended to aliases not, did his occupation arsenic a filmmaker.

The Box is streaming connected Cinemax.