The Box
Warner Bros. Pictures | Release Date: November 6, 2009 CRITIC SCORE DISTRIBUTION
47
METASCORE
Mixed or average reviews based on 24 Critic Reviews
Positive:
8
Mixed:
10
Negative:
6
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Critic Reviews

Critic scorePublicationBy date
60
Film ThreatMatthew Sorrento
The revelation of the film's mystery just barely makes sense. Yet, we dismiss it as an extended MacGuffin, and thus can delight in the film's devious turns. Read full review
50
VarietyJordan Mintzer
Kelly's trademark mix of sci-fi, surrealism and suburbia occasionally entertains. Read full review
50
Rolling StonePeter Travers
What a shame that Kelly's pacing doesn't run as fast as his imagination. Instead of sweeping you along, The Box just sits there like something unclaimed at lost and found. Damaged goods. Read full review
50
The New York TimesManohla Dargis
Sincere and sinister and inevitably ambitious, a serious work that insists on its own seriousness even when it edges toward the preposterous. Read full review
50
SalonStephanie Zacharek
Kelly is devoted to telling his stories visually -- except when he's not. And the second half of The Box, unfortunately, underscores everything Kelly, as a filmmaker, wants to be and just can't. Read full review
50
SlateJohn Swansburg
The Box plays like "The Pardoner's Tale" as retold by the conspiracy theorist haunting your neighborhood Radio Shack. Read full review
42
Entertainment WeeklyOwen Gleiberman
It's no coincidence that The Box plays like the world's murkiest Twilight Zone episode. It's loosely based on ''Button, Button,'' a short story by Richard Matheson, who wrote some of the series' greatest scripts. Read full review
40
The Hollywood ReporterKirk Honeycutt
An artistic fiasco that cuts across genre lines and all logic to become, perhaps, an instant midnight movie. Read full review
40
Time OutJoshua Rothkopf
"Southland Tales" was a soporific mess, and while The Box (based on material by novelist Richard Matheson) is superior by a certain margin, Kelly derails his newfound discipline with the usual shimmering portals and hazy notions of apocalyptic sacrifice. Read full review
40
Austin ChronicleMarc Savlov
It's a mess and it might cost him some career freedom, but at least Kelly hasn't cashed in his trademark narrative complexity for Hollywood pap. Read full review
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