Sartre meets "Prison" !?

Rating: 10/10 (8 May 1999)

Right now, "Cube" is being released in France with an unbelievable success for a movie with no "name actors" and no hype, expect the numerous prices it got at the (formerly deconsidered by critics and audiences alike) Gerardmer film festival. It probably proves that the audiences are expecting something else than stupid Hollywood blockbusters fare. This one is very much a play on Sarte's "Huis clos" ("L'enfer, c'est les autres" - "Hell is the other people") infused with thriller and sometimes basic horror overtones. The scenario seems to have been written by a philosopher and a mathematician, and the ending seems to enter religious parable territory ("Happy are the feeble-minded"). I thought the pretty thin premise would wear thin after an exciting first half-hour, but the movie never lets go, helped by a very strong cast. Sometimes, there are artificial or too obvious ways to highten the tension (Like killing first the prisoner who seems the most likely to survive and a sudden incursion in Friday the 13th territory, etc) but this is understandable for a first effort and gives some naive, passionate flavor to the proceedings, compared to computer-generated Hollywoodian scenarios. Besides, this proves you don't have to make a billion-sized blockbuster choke-full of special effects to build up a good movie.