User reviews

Enjoyed Anna Friel as Marcella. This role is similar: The outsider cop accused of wrongdoing with mental health problems and a complicated private life. The character worked as Marcella, here not so much, seems Friel has no range. It is not clear why this Swedish production chose to use a host of British actors in a US setting. It is jarring, better to use this cast in the UK or get Americans.

Horror/suspense clichés are littered throughout the first two episodes (As much as I could stomach) - quirky camera angles, dark restricted colour-palette sets, jittery lighting ... This is not an intrinsic problem, but The Box has nothing else to recommend it.

Such a disappointment, this had the potential to be compelling viewing, but fails on every level.

Wow. Expected this to be good but boy was I wrong.

Such unlikeable characters this whole show is let down purely on the terrible script.

A great concept with great actors ruined by a horrendously annoying storyline/script.

Yikes. Every time Pici freaks out thinking something is real that clearly isn't and the people around her just super calmly say 'oh no, please don't, you need help' but literally do heck all to actually stop her insanity.

What's up with the psychiatrist. She's the strangest character I can't tell if she's shady, incompetent, or confused about where she is and what she's doing.

Plus the supernatural aspect is woven in so terribly.

I don't know why anyone thought this was okay to put out in it's current state but yea, I'd give it a miss.

Feels like a parody of all bad crimeshows ever made - but sadly its not.. Ridicilous dialogue and a mumbling Peter Stormare to top it of.

So bad you actually need to see it!

Right from the opening credits & throughout, the The Box is an uncomfortable watch, with tedious & dark scenes, accents which obviously aren't American, although they're supposed to be & all underlined by miserable music & overacted performances.

Friel was long ago over promoted from her British soap opera beginnings & her short comings are left wide open & on view here as there's no one around to support her with any glimmer of talent. The clumsily inserted ID politics & ridiculous man's suit add to the unintended comedy.

The blurb for the show sounds great, but getting anywhere near this story means wading through a morass of dreary nonsense. One wonders what happened to the 'Entertainment Business', as modern Hollywood seems bent on entertaining no one.

Nothing about this show works. The writing is bizarre, the accents are wild, and the single indoor set the whole thing takes place on is like some community theatre idea of what an American police station looks like. Oh and the costumes, my god, the costumes. Hilarious.

The whole thing feels like a cutaway joke from 30 Rock.

If you like the idea of Anna Friel playing a detective with unmanaged PTSD, watch Marcella instead.

Anna Friel should not have been involved in this.

That is my headline too.

What a s*it bargain.

Started bad, got worse, Then all went to c R A P.

No. No more of this.

Good and mediocre actors WILL not make it.

No.

It goes to the trash.

Sorry.

So slow and bad.... I actually saw 4 parts and hoped it would catch up. NOT !

Peter Stormare and his US accent is from a different planet 🤣. OMG Anna Friel was great in Marcella but this is just really really bad.

Alexander Karim is great and also the best actor in this, but not even he can save me from turning it of.

*Ok this is my first review, but there seems to be a lot of overly harsh feedback on this show.*

The show is incoherent. People giving this a 10 must be on drugs.

I love Ana Friel...and now I don't.

Those looking for a new show for entertainment, look elsewhere.

Sorry, but pretentiousness is not a good quality.

Ok this is my first review, but there seems to be a lot of overly harsh feedback on this show. First I will keep this short and sweet, I wouldn't want to ruin anything. It is very rarely you watch something that will leave you with a twisted feeling in your stomach and this show will hit you if you take it in. It is more like a modern day delve into the likes of Jacob's Ladder than your average supernatural rehash. Anyone that is a fan of Freil's Marcella will understand why she was perfectly cast for this. But yes has it's downsides, some of the plot twists seems overly forced and the accents are out of place a lot of the times. Give it a try, it is a strange jump of a cliff rollercoaster into mental self destruction.

Red Spider, Dead Lady who's speaks Serbian. Nail Polish with dramatic name....was a good start. Then....off it goes in several directions.

It seems very THEATRE. So you need incredible performances and tight photography to make it work. But it isn't.

I have no idea, I'm bored, no one seems good, which means the director didn't direct well.

Loved her in Marcella, let's face it, it's why 99% of is are watching, but this isn't doing her justice.

I came here hoping the reviews would tell me what the f is going on.

WHY?, This should have been a great showing, especially when you consider previous roles played by Anna Friel.

SHE is actually good in this!, BUT the script lets it down Very Badly.

Production values are about average, the camera work is above average and in all, the acting is quite good.

It's quite hard to find good to say about this because of awful script writing.

To Conclude, Note to the production company or companies, Please invest more in decent scripts!.

It would make sense to invest more in production and script writers with even some talent, than to give the lead Actor/s the bulk of finances.

I wish Anna Friel had broken out of the Marcella mould to do something completely different. I feel like she is now typecast to be an atypical off-the-rails detective spiralling into (or from) a nervous breakdown who always solves the case using unconventional means. Chuck in a supernatural element and you've got The Box.

Conceptually there is so much good stuff here, yet it fails to be creepy enough, cohesive enough, or edge of your seat enough to actually level up to being anything compelling enough to recommend. The half hour episodes don't help. The lack of locations make it stifling - which is clearly intended to amp up the overall psychological oppresiveness - it fails to do so. Midway through the series, the case should have been ramping up significantly, some red herrings thrown in. A bit of actual legwork should be involved (forensics don't even seem to come into it). That Pici is still walking around with a badge at this point is ridiculous enough in itself as she jitters her way out of one absurd situation into another whilst her colleagues orbit around her, clucking with anxiety like mother hens. Peter Stormare seems to be hamming it up for the Razzie awards which would be well-deserved if he gets nominated (I'm hoping he goes head to head with the actor who plays Marco Inaros on the Expanse). The ending is one big massive confusing mess.

The premise is great. The execution leaves a lot to be desired. There's plenty of better stuff on the box (see what I did there?!)

The box is a ghost story, not a cop show. If you can get your head around this you'll enjoy it. It's claustrophobic as everything takes place in The Box, but there's a whole exploration of another dimension.

I think The Box has got its casting right with Anna Friel. She can do weird. She's a police officer who's as weird as can be, in a police station where the interrogation room is known as the Box. This Box is really grubby and its where most of her weirdness originated from. She's also got a dubious partner and colleagues too. I just like her acting and can't wait to see the direction she's take this story.

The first episode is just a build up. You have to get past that to get into the story.

Then the slow build towards the end begins.

I actually liked this as a short 7 episode paranormal drama. It's not scary, so don't expect a horror-movie. It's a crime drama with supernatural elements.

Solid 7/10.

This is a fascinating and confusing thriller that really needs sticking with to make sense of it. It does fit the promise of supernatural thriller with the feel of a stage show as it is all filmed in 3 rooms.

It's far from your typical police drama. I cannot believe the low ratings people are giving here. Consider the fact that there are thousands of people watching this who actually enjoy it, without getting on their high horse and writing a negative review. It's unpredictable. It's interesting. And intriguing. People here complaining about accents? Wtf. It's actually a good narrative.

If you want to go out from the traditional resources of the police-drama series and to be immersed on a sort of David Lynch's kind of (mini) show, you're on the right path.

Do not expect a classic thriller or a profound human drama here (however there are drops of deep real drama well developed). The uncertainty of every episode could be a burden if you are not prepared . Great actor/actress performances, a lot of back and forward scenes and, superb film direction. Not for everyone, and for sure, not the best tv show you will see. But very interesting and different from the rest of the mainstream. Try it.

Its hard to tell if this show suffers from inconsistent writing or if its an aesthetic intended to give the audience a visceral reaction as if they are experiencing a surreal nightmare along with the main character, rather than just observing her and the others.

I think if you can accept it as intentional, you can at least enjoy the ride for what it is. I spent the whole series trying to decide and in the end I think I ended up on the side of deliberately surreal. But constantly second guessing everything kept me out of the story, which gave me the worst of both worlds.

I want to watch it a million times it's amazing I would recommend it to everybody it was the only show I wanted to watch I wish it went longer the show always has something new its exciting and you will never be able to predict what happens next.

The music producers deserve an award for some of the OST in this. The storyline is very unique to. Regardless of the bad reviews id recommend giving this a go. I really enjoyed it.