Very, very, very good. A cult film. The very simple concept is perfectly suited to the mystery. The design of the cube is rich enough to be interesting for 1h30, but not too busy either. It remains mysterious with its complex door system. The progression in the film works very well, you can feel them moving forward as they have ideas. The function of the characters is well defined for the most part: the math student, the doctor, the cop, the gifted autistic, the king of escape... Only the architect, who apparently built the hull of the cube, is not very well defined. It is not clear at what level he designed the cube. He explains very poorly how he was contacted to make the cube and under what conditions. That's the only criticism I have of the film. Otherwise, not saying anything at the end is fine. It's typically the kind of film, like The Truman Show, that can't accept a sequel. There were two sequels. Can you imagine a sequel to The Truman Show where we follow Truman's life outside the dome? It would be useless. It's the same here. There is however a Cube 2 and a Cube 3 where you can see the outside. The consequences are therefore of no interest, I advise against them.
I enjoyed this film. I really did. I think what did this film well was that it has such a small cast and has a very focused story. This film was executed so well give its budget, and I was glad to find out that there are sequels. I did not feel like the limited setting was a hinderance. Everything was done just right.
We initially see a man named Alderson exploring a new room of the cube. He is quickly killed by a wire mesh and is subsequently cut into many pieces. We'll later find out in the film that each prisoner is there to serve a purpose and each has some sort of talent, or intended role. I wonder what Alderson's role/purpose was?
The character development in this film is awesome. Throughout the film, we see characters evolve and take on changes as a result of the stress induced by their situation. Each character discovers themselves, or in Quentins case, devolves into a maniac.
Time for a theory. Kazan was the only occupant to escape. I start to wonder if this might have been intentional. Kazan is unable to communicate effectively, because of his disability. Was it designed so that only he would survive so that information about the Cube remained elusive? Furthermore, the room Kazan exits to is not the outside world. I say this because the building would have to be visible for this to be true, and would raise some suspicion. There could, of course, be a front.
This film left me wanting more, and I am eager to watch the sequel and the prequel. I hear this film is being remade, and I would be very interested in seeing how they do it.
Review by wolfkinBlockedParent2021-09-06T00:48:22Z
I never thought I'd see this movie again. I haven't seen it since the 90s when it was on the SciFi channel. It holds up SO WELL. Not just the effect but the characters honestly. With a few issues regarding Andrew Miller's Kazan who is supposed to be a savant autistic person. There's some language regarding that which would be appropriate potentially even in the context.
But this is a movie about tension. Our characters wake up in a cube made up of many smaller cube rooms and some of them have death traps. Even knowing who lived the tension is there and at times I would forget that this character or that character wouldn't survive.
Our characters struggle with each other and with the maze. They develop in utterly fascinating ways as they start out a mostly cohesive group and then tighten into different groups. Then they tighten beyond those groups into individuals who can barely stand to work together. They fight over whether to look up and figure out why they were selected or look downward and try to figure out what to do next. Little do they know in the only micro spoiler I'll give that they need to do both.
It's very reasonably acted and though the low budget affects somethings like minor continuity between rooms. But this is an action that is taken so often that it's easy enough to gloss over. Beyond that this movie is pure character.