If you were given the chance to receive $1 million just by pressing a button, would you do it? But what if there was the catch that somebody, somewhere in the world, would die immediately afterwards?
This Friday marks the release of director Richard Kelly’s (Donnie Darko, Southland Tales) newest sci-fi thriller, The Box, starring Cameron Diaz and James Marsden. The plot seems simple enough: in a Boston suburb a family struggling financially encounters the button scenario described above. However, as they put their moral fibre to the test, the dilemma takes on immense complexity.
The Box is based on a Richard Matheson’s short story “Button Button,” and the tale was later adopted into an episode of the Twilight Zone. From here, Kelly extends the narrative, seeking answers to the moral questions inherent to the plotline. As he explains, “The story was set-up for the first scenes of the movie. I had so many questions about it, I wanted to know the point of it all.”
The film was a long time in the making, with production beginning in November of 2007. The idea for a film adaptation, though, had long lingered in Kelly’s mind. He recalls the impact the story had on him from as early as his youth. “I read the story when I was young, and then spent a long time trying to get [it] settled. It really leaves a strong footprint in [your] mind.”
Diaz stars as Norma Lewis, the mother of a single child who receives a box containing the button on their front doorstep. For Diaz, starring in the film was a nice break from her pattern of previous releases, which have consisted almost entirely of romantic comedies. Upon receiving the script for Kelly’s latest film, she immediately jumped on the opportunity.
“I was a big fan of Donnie Darko, and so I really wanted to work with Richard Kelly because he is so authentic. The movie is an existential quandary, and I knew Richard would tell the story well,” she explains.
Marsden stars as Arthur Lewis, a recently unemployed husband and father. He too was excited for Kelly’s sci-fi film because of the morally challenging questions posed.
“The character is very human, but surrounded by supernatural elements. […] I haven’t done many films like this before,” he admits.
Despite her interest in the role, Diaz never took time to sit down and read Matheson’s original story. Instead, both she and Marsden walked onto the set of the film with the intention of following Kelly’s unique vision for the story.
The film is ultimately an assessment of the human condition: it places the audience in an uncomfortable position where they must ask themselves, “Would I choose to act, given the circumstances, in the same way as these characters?” Diaz herself pondered these same questions while filming the movie.
“You try to understand what other people go through,” she concludes, “but you never really know. Nothing of me is in [the character Norma Lewis].”
The film is set in the 1970s, a time before the luxuries of the Internet and television provided all households with quick information offered at the click of a button (pun intended). Nevertheless, audiences will be able to successfully relate to the characters and the immense drama that ensues in their rather ordinary lives:
The Box “is about a nuclear family that lives a lifestyle they no longer can afford,” Kelly says. “Looking at the economic crisis of today, we can identify with it, and my hope is that it resonates with the audience. […] It was a huge decision to set [the film] in the 1970s. […] It has an old-fashioned concept, and is a bit more frightening without today’s technologies.”
Diaz also sees modern parallels: “We are pushing the button more than ever with our limitless credit cards, pollution, and all these problems where we do not see the immediate effects and consequences. Instead, we put forth the idea of monetary wealth in our society. […] My character didn’t want to suffer the consequences [of pushing the button]. She saw a million dollars and wanted to believe she could change for the better, not for the worse. It’s something we all desire.”
Fans of science-fiction, thrillers, and even horror films will be pleased at the suspenseful film’s genre-bending cinematographic techniques. As Kelly explains, “my hope is to make a film that is incredibly suspenseful and broadly commercial, while still retaining my artistic sensibility.” Let’s see how this mission fares.
The Box opens on Nov. 6.
