# Cube (2021 film)

Cube is a 2021 Japanese science fiction horror film written by Koji Tokuo and directed by Yasuhiko Shimizu [ja]. It is a remake of the 1997 Canadian film of the same name and the fourth film in the Cube series. The film stars Masaki Suda, Anne Watanabe, Masaki Okada, Hikaru Tashiro, Takumi Saito and Kōtarō Yoshida. It was released in Japan on October 22, 2021.
The story centers on a group of strangers who awaken in a cube-shaped room connected to adjacent rooms, forming an elaborate maze filled with traps. As they navigate the maze in an attempt to escape, they confront personal secrets, and tensions arise, testing their trust and cooperation. The film explores themes of survival and paranoia, reinterpreting the original concept within a Japanese cultural context.

## Plot

A man awakens in a cube-shaped room with hatches connecting to adjacent rooms. Suddenly, razor-sharp beams extend from the walls, killing him.
Engineer Yuichi Goto wakes up in a similar room alongside middle school student Chiharu Uno and freeter Shinji Ochi. They are all wearing identical jumpsuits, have no memory of how they arrived, and possess no personal belongings. Hiroshi Ide, who has been navigating the maze, enters and warns them that some rooms are booby-trapped. Asako Kai also joins the group. When Ide opens a hatch in the ceiling, the corpse of the man from the first scene falls into their room. Deciding to work together to find an exit, the group begins traversing the interconnected rooms. Ide uses a boot as a decoy to test for traps in each new room. They encounter Kazumasa Ando, who joins them. Goto and Uno notice plates with three numbers on the thresholds between rooms and theorize that rooms with prime numbers contain traps. Using this knowledge, they attempt to navigate safely.
The group enters a room where all exits appear to be trapped. Ide discovers that one room's trap is sound-activated, and they carefully pass through it in silence. However, Ochi accidentally causes a noise, triggering the trap and injuring Ando's leg. Ando becomes enraged at Ochi. They grow confused when a room without prime numbers is still trapped, leading them to suspect that the rooms themselves are moving. A tremor causes Uno to fall into a room with a laser trap. Goto and Ide attempt to rescue him, but Ide is killed by the trap. With Kai's assistance, Goto realizes that the numbers on the plates correspond to Cartesian coordinates, which can be used to locate the exit. Suddenly, metal bars extend from the floor, separating Ochi and Ando from the others. Ando decides that he and Ochi will find the exit on their own. Goto, Kai, and Uno reach a room that displays Goto's memories of his younger brother Hiroto, who committed suicide due to their abusive father. Distressed, Goto is consoled by Uno and becomes determined to protect the others.
Meanwhile, Ando continues to bully Ochi, culminating in Ochi killing Ando by repeatedly slamming his head in a hatch door. Ochi rejoins the group, claiming that Ando died in a trap. Suspicious, Uno confronts Ochi, who then attacks him. The others save Uno, and Ochi admits to killing Ando and deliberately leading them into a trapped room. As the trap activates, Goto fights off Ochi, who is killed by the trap. Goto sacrifices his chance to escape to ensure that Uno and Kai reach a room moving toward the exit. Uno and Kai reach the edge of the cube and open a hatch to discover they are inside an enormous structure. Kai insists on staying behind to search for more survivors, and Uno exits the cube through a passageway leading to a light. Wounded, Goto continues to navigate the cube, determined to find a way out. It is revealed that Kai is cybernetically monitoring the survivors as part of an experiment and re-enters the cube to begin the process anew with a different group.

## Cast

* Masaki Suda as Yuichi Goto, a 29-year-old engineer. He is based on David Worth from the original film.
* Anne Watanabe as Asako Kai. Purportedly a 37-year-old mathematics teacher, the film's ending suggests she is a cyborg or android and part of the organization responsible for the cube. She is based on Joan Leaven from the original film.
* Masaki Okada as Shinji Ochi, a 31-year-old freeter. He is based on Quentin McNeil from the original film.
* Hikaru Tashiro as Chiharu Uno, a 13-year-old middle school student with autism. He is based on Kazan from the original film.
* Tokio Emoto as First Man, an unnamed prisoner. He is based on Alderson from the original film.
* Takumi Saito as Hiroshi Ide, a 41-year-old mechanic who is desperate to escape the cube and reunite with his wife. He is based on Rennes from the original film.
* Kōtarō Yoshida as Kazumasa Ando, a 61-year-old corporate executive. He is based on Dr. Helen Holloway from the original film.
* Soma Santoki as Hiroto Goto, Yuichi's younger brother. The character does not appear in the original film.

## Production

Filming took place in October and November 2020.

## Critical response

The film received mixed-to-negative reviews from critics. James Marsh, writing for the South China Morning Post, gave the film 2 out of 5 stars, and summarized: "The movie is so repetitive and sluggish, and the characters so insufferable, that being stuck in the deadly cube might seem preferable to watching it." In the Kinejun Review on Kinenote, run by Kinema Junpo Publishing, Junichi Inoue gave the film a low rating, saying, "Did anyone involved in this film think this was interesting? Did no one say anything? I question their love of film." Shigeki Koga commented, "The film's classicism and social nature make it mediocre. As a result, all the characters are stereotypes and lack depth." Writer Kaori Hattori said, "There are still many unresolved aspects of the characters, both young and old, male and female, and the more you try to delve deeper into their inner thoughts and backgrounds, the more frustrating it becomes as the story deviates from realism."