The Box (3 Stars)

Amazon Friday #17

I admit that I chose this film today because I watched "Donnie Darko" earlier this week. "Donnie Darko" was the first film made by Richard Kelly. "The Box" was his third and final film. I bought it when it was first released on DVD, which was 2010. I watched it once before I started writing my blog in September 2010, so I never recorded my thoughts in writing. All I remember is that I didn't like it, and it was one of the DVDs that I gave away before moving to Germany to 2016. It's offered with Amazon Prime now, so I could give it another chance.

The story's premise is fascinating. A mysterious stranger gives a married couple a box with a button. They're told that if they press the button they will be given a million dollars, but at the same time a person they don't know will die. The film is set in 1976, so it would be a value of $4.8 million today.

How would you react if you were given a deal like that? How would I react? Is the life of a complete stranger worth a million dollars? Would I have a clear conscience, because it's nobody that I know? According to the statistics, 7000 people die in America every day, so one more person wouldn't make a difference. The stranger doesn't even say that the death will be in America, so it could be someone the other side of the world. Who cares? There are no consequences.

I honestly don't know how I would decide. It depends on so many factors in my life. At certain times in my life I might have decided one way, at other times the other.

The lesson of the film is that there are always consequences. Pressing the button is committing murder. Just because I'm not holding a gun in my hand, it doesn't mean I'm not a killer. The button is my murder weapon. In the film punishment comes swiftly. The person who dies is someone who previously pushed the button. The stranger doesn't tell anyone that.

I would have preferred the film if it had stuck with the moral questions. It adds too many ideas, and in the end it's not satisfying. I don't regret giving away my DVD. I've forgotten who I gave it to. Maybe the person who owns it now enjoys the film more than me.

Success Rate:  - 0.9

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