PANDORA'S BOX (2002)
Rating: 3 1/2 out of 4 stars
Got nothing to do lately? Thinking of seeing a movie, but are having second thoughts because summer blockbusters make you ill? Do you wish there was a movie this summer that you found to be truly sexy and intriguing? Well, now you can relax. The moment you've been waiting for has arrived. Prepare yourself. WARNING: What you're about to experience is absolutely stimulating, and not for the faint at heart. You'll never be the same again after you've seen what's inside PANDORA'S BOX.
Director Rob Hardy, whose previous film, TROIS, made a well-earned 1.2 million at the box office, said that he wanted to make a film that had something no one had ever seen before. Without giving too much away about the plot, Hardy describes his latest effort as an erotic FATAL ATTRACTION-style thriller that brings something new to the genre - "actors of color engaged in romantic scenes."
From the opening scene right down to the climatic finish, Hardy's film grabs the attention of its audience, locking everyone's eyes to the screen by way of its intense eroticism and twisted plotline.
In PANDORA'S BOX, Monica Calhoun plays Mia, a beautiful psychiatrist confined to a loveless marriage to her neglectful husband, Victor (Kristoff St. John). She seems quite unhappy at home, so she works as many hours as she possibly can. Spending more time at her job than she spends sitting at home, Mia becomes wrapped up in the mind of a new patient of hers, Tammy (Chrystale Wilson), whose been having a lot of trouble lately coping with her husband's murder. Tammy tells Mia about where they met, a place called "Pandora's Box", and how it transformed her into a totally different person. Because she seems to want to help Mia to understand her better, Tammy tells her doctor friend that if she wishes to understand why her life has changed, then she'd have to have been there and experienced it for herself.
Not quite certain of what to expect, but curious nonetheless, Mia decides to check the place out. Upon entering, she is opened to a world of self-gratification, sexual liberation, and decadence as its existence "taps into the most primitive and passionate aspects of her otherwise controlled personality" (Rainforest Productions), revealing hidden urges that she never even knew she had. When she meets handsome stranger Hampton Hines (Michael Jai White), she forgets all about being faithful to her husband and starts a dangerous affair with him. In doing so, she releases the evils that were hidden beneath the surface, causing herself to become entangled in a plot against her that includes blackmail, murder, and deception. All that Mia has now is the hope that it's not too late for her to rescue herself from her patient's dangerous life.
What sets this film apart from other thrillers of its kind is that it isn't some bogus rip-off with cardboard actors, sloppy dialogue, bad cinematography, and a predictable storyline. Instead, it goes farther than any of its predecessors have been able to go, with sex scenes that push the envelope more than any other erotic thriller out there. In other words, this is kind of film that Stanley Kubrick wanted EYES WIDE SHUT to be. Too bad we have the MPAA to blame for that.
