Review of Buried (2010) by Avneesh M — 30 Apr 2014
Directed by Rodrigo Cortés (Red Lights (2012)) and written by Chris Sparling (ATM (2012)), this is a very clasutrophobic film set entirely in one location and made with one actor on screen, (all the rest are voice-overs on a mobile phone), and it was heavily inspired by Alfred Hitchcock's Lifeboat (1944)), this is a scary film which owes a debt of gratitude to a particular scene in Kill Bill: Vol 2 (2004).
It begins when Paul Conroy (Ryan Reynolds), an American civilian truck driver, working in Iraq, wakes up to find himself buried in a coffin. He can't remember how he got there, not straight away anyways.
In the coffin, he has a Zippo lighter and a Blackberry mobile phone. The phone rings and it's Paul's kidnapper called Jabir (José Luis García Pérez), who demands $5 million by 9pm, or Paul will be left to die in the coffin.
He phones the State Department, who said they won't negotiate with terrorists, but they forward him to Dan Brenner (Robert Paterson) of the Hostage Working Group, who are trying to find him, but time is running out fast.
Filmed in Barcelona in just 17 days for just under $2 million, this thriller manages to do a lot in a very limited location, and it does have philosophical weights about coming to terms with impending death.
It shared themes with being trapped and accepting death with another film out that same year, 127 Hours.
This review of Buried (2010) was written by Avneesh M on 30 Apr 2014.
Buried has generally received positive reviews.
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