The Box

I love a film that makes you think.
While it is mysterious, weird and requires your full attention, I thoroughly enjoyed The Box , made by the man behind the groundbreaking Donnie Darko.
If you've seen Donnie then you have a fair idea that all your questions aren't going to be answered. In fact, it might well raise more questions.
The Box features Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as Norma and Arthur Lewis, a seemingly perfect couple who live in Virginia in 1976.
Arthur wants to be an astronaut and has been working for NASA on a Mars project while Norma is a school teacher who has a disfigured foot, we find out because of a medical bungle when she was 17.
They have a son and while they live 'from paycheck to paycheck' they seem to have a good life.
Early one morning a package arrives and inside it is a plain looking brown box with a button on it and a card that says someone will call by at 5pm.
When that time arrives a gruesome looking man, Mr Steward, presents Norma with a gruesome proposal - if you push the button, I will give you $1 million but someone you don't know will die.
It raised a couple of questions for me.
Could I do such a thing, would my conscience allow an innocent (though unknown to me) person to die for a huge windfall? There's always a catch, isn't there. It made me think this way: if something looks too good to be true then it probably is.
Maybe the lesson is to appreciate what we have and that when we 'sell our souls' (regardless of whether literally or just by going against one's values) we don't always benefit.
I could go on and on and on about what's raised in this complex film but since I try not to do spoilers I won't go into what happens. I thought it was fairly well acted and it was nice to see James Marsden in a serious role.
Donnie Darko was an odd film and wasn't easy to follow. Thankfully The Box is a shade easier to go with but it still requires some work. I enjoyed it, though I have to say it was tough going at times. It's not necessarily a feel good film (neither was Donnie Darko) but one that, if nothing else, will get you thinking. I'm going 8 out of 10.