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The Box
- 154 statements
- 29 feature instances
- 10 referencing feature instances
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The Box is a 2009 science fiction/horror film based on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by Richard Matheson. It was written and directed by Richard Kelly, a story that had been previously adapted into an episode of The Twilight Zone (1985), under the short story's original name, though with a different ending.The story (which uses the Twilight Zone rewrite as the starting point) starts out with a simple premise — a married couple, Norma (Cameron Diaz) and Arthur Lewis (James Marsden), have hit upon unfortunate financial circumstances. Arthur is a NASA scientist with dreams of becoming an astronaut (and looking forward to the bump in pay from being picked to go out into space) while Norma is a private school teacher with a mangled foot. Their son goes to the exclusive school Norma teaches at, with the family getting a huge discount on tuition due to Norma's status as an employee. However, as the film starts out, Arthur is informed that he been rejected from receiving astronaut training, permanently stalling any hope of career advancement at NASA. Worse, Norma is informed by her employer that the private school is getting rid of the discount employees receive on their children's tuition, meaning that their son would have to start going to public school.Their dreams of social mobility dashed, they receive a sudden visit from a man with a severely burned face named Arlington Steward (Frank Langella). Despite his frightening appearance, Steward is cordial towards them even as he makes a disturbing proposition to them: The couple is given a simple box with a button on it. If they push the button within the next twenty-four hours, they will receive $1 million in cash while a person that they don't know somewhere in the world will die.The film follows the Twilight Zone version of the story, where Norma pushes the button over her husband's moral objections and the family gets the money. However, as he takes the box away from them, Steward gleefully reveals that he will soon reset the box and offer it to another couple, who in turn be made the same offer, with it implied that it may be Norma or Arthur who dies next when a stranger presses the button.And this is just the first act! The remaining two-thirds of the film takes the story into a brand new Mind Screw direction, worthy of Richard Kelly's previous works.No connection to 1967 cartoon short film The Box. | |
The Box | fetched |
2023-12-09T02:16:41Z | |
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Dropped link to StringTheory: Not a Feature - ITEM | |
The Box | isPartOf |
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The Box / int_21d70919 | type |
Crapsack World | |
The Box / int_21d70919 | comment |
Crapsack World: If you press the button, people will die. If you don't, you apparently get enslaved here and on another world. | |
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The Box / int_23473ae7 | type |
Adaptation Expansion | |
The Box / int_23473ae7 | comment |
Adaptation Expansion: From five pages of story into 20 minutes of television into two hours of cinema. | |
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The Box / int_25b7257f | type |
Red Right Hand | |
The Box / int_25b7257f | comment |
Red Right Hand: Mr. Steward's half burned face, which despite his lack of malice, is still played straight. | |
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The Box | hasFeature |
The Box / int_25b7257f | |
The Box / int_2fef0c01 | type |
Twisted Christmas | |
The Box / int_2fef0c01 | comment |
Twisted Christmas: The Sadistic Choice, mind control, and alien invasion is set over Christmas. | |
The Box / int_2fef0c01 | featureApplicability |
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The Box | hasFeature |
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The Box / int_329a19a0 | type |
Hollywood Healing | |
The Box / int_329a19a0 | comment |
Hollywood Healing: After Norma gets her club foot surgically fixed, she seems to recover instantly with no rest and is able to walk and dance like normal. | |
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The Box | hasFeature |
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The Box / int_34889673 | type |
Gender Flip | |
The Box / int_34889673 | comment |
Gender Flip: In both versions, one of the spouses ultimately dies from the button being pressed. The gender changes from page to screen. | |
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The Box / int_3a90dc63 | type |
Aliens Are Bastards | |
The Box / int_3a90dc63 | comment |
Aliens Are Bastards: The reason they were given the box? It's to determine whether humans are ultimately altruistic enough to be allowed to exist. They choose to investigate by putting people in a situation where, if they choose poorly, they have to kill twice. Once for the button push, and a second time to "atone" for it with spousal murder in order to save their child, something never mentioned in the original "deal". Yeah, good job testing high moral standards while being less than upstanding yourselves. If humanity does pass muster, you've got to wonder how exactly they'll be received by the public if these experiments come to light. Especially since the movie reveals the Aliens deliberately interfere in their lives and careers to try forcing the subjects into pressing the button. | |
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The Box / int_41d9aaef | type |
Brainwashed | |
The Box / int_41d9aaef | comment |
Brainwashed: A disturbing number of people, causing some serious Hive Mind / Meat Puppet like action. The telltale indication is a bleeding nose after the fact. | |
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The Box | hasFeature |
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The Box / int_461defa0 | type |
Two-Faced | |
The Box / int_461defa0 | comment |
Two-Faced: The messenger with his disfigured left cheek. | |
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The Box / int_50b05d30 | type |
Disproportionate Retribution | |
The Box / int_50b05d30 | comment |
Disproportionate Retribution: Your wife made the choice to press the button. As a retribution, either you will have to kill her and go to jail (she's not even allowed to kill herself), or your child will be deafblind for life. Not to mention the "human extinction plan". | |
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The Box | hasFeature |
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The Box / int_5c1ec068 | type |
Big Red Button | |
The Box / int_5c1ec068 | comment |
Big Red Button: The box features a prominent red button under the glass dome. | |
The Box / int_5c1ec068 | featureApplicability |
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The Box / int_6d41b8da | type |
Fantastic Aesop | |
The Box / int_6d41b8da | comment |
Fantastic Aesop: If you're offered the choice of money via supernatural murder, don't take it. You will ultimately really regret your choice, because not only will it force you to kill your spouse and die/get sent to jail, but potentially doom the human race. Of course, if you know there's no repercussions, go right ahead. | |
The Box / int_6d41b8da | featureApplicability |
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The Box / int_6edc54d5 | type |
Here We Go Again! | |
The Box / int_6edc54d5 | comment |
Here We Go Again!: The ending. | |
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The Box / int_71268450 | type |
Adaptation Title Change | |
The Box / int_71268450 | comment |
Adaptation Title Change: The Box is adapted from the short story "Button, Button". | |
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The Box / int_77473d35 | type |
God Is Evil | |
The Box / int_77473d35 | comment |
God Is Evil: If we assume that "those who control the lightning" are godlike powers. | |
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The Box / int_7abd339f | type |
Black-and-White Morality | |
The Box / int_7abd339f | comment |
Black-and-White Morality: Enforced by "Steward" and his "employers". Anyone who pushes the button is evil and must be used as statistics in supporting human extinction and anyone who doesn't push the button is good and must be enslaved. "Arlington Steward" even apologizes to the main couple, saying this is how it must be and it cannot be negotiated. | |
The Box / int_7abd339f | featureApplicability |
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The Box / int_853f8327 | type |
Unconfessed Unemployment | |
The Box / int_853f8327 | comment |
Unconfessed Unemployment: Played with. Arthur doesn't lose his job, but he does fail and miss the opportunity to go to Mars, which he tries to keep from Norma. | |
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The Box | hasFeature |
The Box / int_853f8327 | |
The Box / int_8767b1f3 | type |
Black-and-Gray Morality | |
The Box / int_8767b1f3 | comment |
Black-and-Gray Morality: Yep, pressing the button isn't a very nice thing to do. But the other side ("those who control the lightning") are far worse with their "human extinction" plan, their attempts to interfere with humans' lives to make them push the button, and probably the worst of all, blackmailing humans with their children's lives and health. | |
The Box / int_8767b1f3 | featureApplicability |
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The Box | hasFeature |
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The Box / int_91b55fe | type |
Pop-Star Composer | |
The Box / int_91b55fe | comment |
Pop-Star Composer: The score is by Win Butler and Regime Chassagne of Arcade Fire and Owen Pallett. | |
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The Box / int_a70223 | type |
Karma Houdini | |
The Box / int_a70223 | comment |
Karma Houdini: "Arlington Steward" and his "employers". | |
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The Box / int_babc974 | type |
Sadistic Choice | |
The Box / int_babc974 | comment |
Sadistic Choice: The obvious first one is bad enough—miss out on $1 million (and it's clearly shown they're not in good shape financially) or be responsible for someone's death. But it's the later one that really qualifies: let your son spend the rest of his life deafblind, or shoot your wife dead where she stands and he'll be cured. The husband tries to Take a Third Option, i.e. shoot the one forcing him to make the choice, but that person explains that he would then suffer the consequences of both choices, that is to say he'll still go to prison for murder and there'll be nobody to cure his son, and then those he answers will just send somebody else to replace the dead guy. And the last choice isn't even really in the husband's hands: someone else has been given the button... Oddly enough, that's a good thing, because it means that our "altruism coefficient" goes up by demonstrating they're both willing to sacrifice to help their son. It's possible if he hadn't shot her Mr. Steward would have had someone else killed. Probably one of the mind-controlled people. | |
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The Box | hasFeature |
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The Box / int_bffc7851 | type |
Humanity on Trial | |
The Box / int_bffc7851 | comment |
Humanity on Trial: Mr. Steward turns out to be an alien lifeform who has possessed a human body in order to administer a test to humanity in the form of the Box. He is looking to map an "Altruism Coefficient" by seeing how many people will choose to save others at cost to themselves. He tells a NASA scientist working with him that the test will determine whether humanity is viable or self-destructive, warning him that if they are the latter, then his employers will "facilitate your extinction." | |
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The Box / int_bffc7851 | |
The Box / int_d2c0e2ed | type |
Schmuck Bait | |
The Box / int_d2c0e2ed | comment |
Schmuck Bait: The button. The original story was on that page long before the movie was conceived, so this is a no brainer. | |
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The Box | hasFeature |
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The Box / int_dea5fe1 | type |
Kubrick Stare | |
The Box / int_dea5fe1 | comment |
Kubrick Stare: That freak kid at the party. | |
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The Box / int_e016e53f | type |
Throwing Off the Disability | |
The Box / int_e016e53f | comment |
Throwing Off the Disability: Norma's club foot is fixed by surgery and she suffers no ill effects for it. | |
The Box / int_e016e53f | featureApplicability |
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The Box / int_e7ae07f5 | type |
Briefcase Full of Money | |
The Box / int_e7ae07f5 | comment |
Briefcase Full of Money: This is how Mr. Steward offers his money. The $1,000,000 could readily fit in a briefcase with the $100 bills. | |
The Box / int_e7ae07f5 | featureApplicability |
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The Box / int_f8c2936e | type |
Alien Fair Folk | |
The Box / int_f8c2936e | comment |
Alien Fair Folk: "Arlington Steward" and his "employers" are implied to be superior alien lifeforms, but at the same time, their appearance and behavior (especially the fact that they deliberately interfere with people's lives to make them give in to the temptation, and then punish them severely when they DO give in) is strongly reminiscent of demons from Christian mythology, as well as the darkest interpretation of God from the Old Testament. They could be either extraterrestrials who deliberately make use of religious archetypes, or supernatural entities with a Blue-and-Orange Morality hiding beneath a sci-fi facade; the film hints at both possiblities. | |
The Box / int_f8c2936e | featureApplicability |
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The Box / int_fb4c41b4 | type |
"Friends" Rent Control | |
The Box / int_fb4c41b4 | comment |
"Friends" Rent Control: Several people have pointed out that if the protagonists needed money, they could simply move from their massive house to a smaller place or sell one of their cars instead of fiddling with the murder box. However, you could argue that we were meant to see them as selfish jerks. This was averted in The Twilight Zone (1985) adaptation of the story where the leads live in a really crappy apartment. | |
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The following is a list of statements referring to the current page from other pages.
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Adaptation Title Change / int_9aab7b94 | |
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Alien Works / int_9aab7b94 | |
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Big Red Button / int_9aab7b94 | |
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Humanity on Trial / int_9aab7b94 | |
The Box | hasFeature |
Remake Cameo / int_9aab7b94 | |
The Box | hasFeature |
Scholarship Student / int_9aab7b94 | |
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Sci-Fi Horror / int_9aab7b94 | |
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Temporary Blindness / int_9aab7b94 | |
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The '70s / int_9aab7b94 | |
The Box | hasFeature |
Two-Faced / int_9aab7b94 |
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Copyright of data TVTropes.org contributors under Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported License.