The Box is terrible.
Saw it tonight, and I wouldn't go so far as to say it's terrible. I think Kelly is very gifted as a visual storyteller, and he's terrific at creating a sense of dread in the middle third. And the soundtrack is very effective. But then things get metaphysical and it all goes to hell.
There's a funny balancing act he's trying to pull off. You want that sense of things
almost but never fully coming together to reveal the grand pattern behind all the creepy, confusing events -- and when that strategy works just right you get something strangely compelling in the way it frustrates your desire for closure -- like
Mulholland Drive,
Memento or his own
Donnie Darko. He screwed it up bad in numerous ways this time, especially by including some truly laughable exposition scenes toward the end.
