This is a low-budget film, but this should never be used a pejorative in and of itself. "The Box" feels low-budget, but overall, the production values are great, albeit the film has little action and is a slow-burn with no "pay off", if you miss what the movie is about and the philosophical underpinnings, you are guaranteed to hate this, and even if you do pick up on them, you might still hate it anyway. This is a hard film to review for many reasons, but it isn't poorly, and it is well-executed.
The acting is solid on the whole, the sound mixing is really good, the music is well-done, the lighting is good, the cinematography is more than serviceable, and it is well-directed. I have no major gripes, it is short of brilliant, but settles for being a solid drama/thriller instead of ever quite achieving greatness. The script can be a bit philosophically heavy-handed with it's numerous "box" analogies, but given the concept, I don't rally feel it is avoidable. The dialog is not bad, though some of the delivery can be a bit stiff at times, although some of it is for sure intentional, such as the painfully stiff auditions of our lead character Tyler, and some of the opening scenes. It actually gives the movie a bit of an artificial and uncomfortable feeling.
There is a lot of symbolism here, and a lot of ideas to chew on. Of course the metaphorical idea of a "box" that you are in, or you put yourself in, is a common one we throw around, but one that isn't necessarily explored in media a whole lot. This movie also explore contentment; if we are all in a box of our own making, why is it that some are happier than others? Do some do better at accepting the confines that exist in their life? Are some more easily adapted to the box they find themselves in? These ideas are implicated, but not explicitly said. What happens when you achieve something you wanted, but find it isn't cracked up to what you thought it to be, do you leave it? Or stick with it because it took so long to achieve?
So, if you like philosophy, this one has a lot of ideas, and they are fairly well fleshed out, but not shoved in your face, as with another low-budget philosophical concept film "Look Again". This one takes a slightly more ambiguous route, and I think it is to it's advantage. The question is, do you watch movies just to be entertained? Or do you like movies that give you a bit to chew on afterwards? If you enjoy the latter, "The Box(2021)", might just be for you.
