| The Box is a 2009 science fiction horror film based | | | | but Sara, and she is from Boston. He reaches the |
| on the 1970 short story "Button, Button" by Richard | | | | motel, where "Dana" has been staying and she |
| Matheson, which was previously adapted into an | | | | wakes up with a start. She tells Arthur it's not safe |
| episode of the 1980s incarnation of The Twilight | | | | for him there, and to look in the mirror because |
| Zone. The film is written and directed by Richard | | | | that's the only place with the answer. She then |
| Kelly and stars Cameron Diaz and James Marsden as | | | | hurries away. In the motel, every door she passes |
| a couple who receive a box from a mysterious man | | | | opens and a startled looking person stares her down. |
| that offers them one million dollars if they press the | | | | She reaches her room, where she has a large map |
| button sealed within the dome on top of the box. | | | | and pictures of Arthur, Norma, and Walter. |
| Production for the film began in November of 2007 | | | | At a supermarket, Norma is approached by a |
| and concluded in February of 2008. | | | | panicked woman who tells her to look up a certain |
| The film begins with a CIA internal memo being | | | | call number in the library, and not to trust her |
| typed across the screen. It states that a man named | | | | husband, before passing out with a bloody nose. |
| Arlington Steward has recovered from severe burn | | | | Arthur finds out that Arlington's license plate is |
| wounds and is delivering units related to the Mars | | | | registered to the NSA. He asks Norma's father if he |
| project. | | | | can go with him to see the house where the |
| The film then opens up in 1976 with Norma and | | | | shooting mentioned earlier took place. Once there, he |
| Arthur Lewis cuddling in bed after a night of | | | | finds pictures of Arlington and a picture of a Human |
| passionate lovemaking (this scene has been removed | | | | Resources book, and a library call number. |
| from screenings in North America to conform to a | | | | Norma and Arthur both visit the library, separately. |
| PG 13 rating), and awaking at 5:45 am as the doorbell | | | | Norma avoids Arthur, as instructed by the woman in |
| rings. Norma goes downstairs and looks through the | | | | the supermarket. Norma find a film reel, which shows |
| peephole seeing a black car drive off. Upon opening | | | | Arlington prior to his disfigurement. Arthur is followed |
| the door, she sees a package on her doorstep. | | | | by a crowd of startled looking people. He finds |
| Inside, she and her husband find a wooden box with | | | | himself in a large hall filled with more scared looking |
| a button protected by a glass dome, locked with a | | | | people. He approaches a woman he learns is |
| key, and a note, reading Mr. Steward will come at | | | | Arlington's wife, and she tells him to follow her. He is |
| 5:00 pm. | | | | presented with three "gateways", made of hovering |
| Arthur goes to work at NASA, where he works in | | | | water. Two lead to eternal damnation, one to |
| optics, and helped in designing the camera on the | | | | salvation. Remembering the student who held up two |
| Viking Mars probe. He finds because he failed his | | | | fingers, Arthur picks gate two. He enters the water |
| psych exam, he has been rejected from the | | | | and finds himself whirling through whiteness. |
| astronaut program despite good test scores and | | | | Norma is also led by two hollow looking women to |
| glowing recommendations. Norma goes to her job as | | | | Arlington. He asks her how she felt when she saw his |
| a teacher at an elite private school teaching literature, | | | | disfigurement, and she says she felt love, because of |
| where they are discussing Sartre's vision of Hell. One | | | | her foot. Many years ago, her brother dropped a |
| of her students remarks on her limp, after which she | | | | barbell on her foot and when she went to the doctor |
| shows her class her disfigured right foot, missing four | | | | he put it in an X-ray machine and forgot about her, |
| toes. Later that day Norma returns home and | | | | destroying the tissue in four of her toes. Arlington |
| confesses her fear of losing their home, due to lack | | | | informs Norma that he was struck by lightning, and |
| of money. That is when Arlington Steward appears | | | | can now communicate with "those who control the |
| at their door. Norma looks at the clock and realizes it | | | | lightning". Norma begins to cry and Arlington takes her |
| is 5:00 pm. | | | | hand. |
| Arlington offers them one million dollars if they press | | | | Norma is suddenly laying on her bed, with Arthur |
| the button sealed in the dome. The catch is that | | | | suspended above her in the same hovering water he |
| someone they do not know will die. Norma and | | | | stepped into earlier. Norma moves away just before |
| Arthur contemplate whether or not they would be | | | | Arthur falls out of the water. The water falls too, |
| able to cope with someone's death on their hands. | | | | going all the way down their stairs. When cleaning up, |
| After much discussion as to whether or not they | | | | Walter demands to know what is going on. Norma |
| should press the button, and some tinkering with the | | | | and Arthur do not answer him. |
| box (Arthur finds nothing inside it), Norma suddenly | | | | More drama occurs and eventually, at the wedding of |
| jerks forward and hits it. | | | | Norma's sister, their son Walter is kidnapped. Arthur is |
| Arlington returns and presents Norma and Arthur with | | | | taken away by a gun-toting former employee of |
| the million, without asking whether they pressed the | | | | NASA. He is the same man who shot his wife, as |
| button or not. He informs the couple that whoever | | | | earlier seen in the 911 call. He reveals to Arthur that |
| receives the offer next, they will surely not know, | | | | he had to choose between his wife or his daughter. |
| implying that when the next people press the button, | | | | He shows Arthur the book seen earlier in the picture, |
| one of them, or their son, will be at risk. Arthur | | | | and the water portals or "triptychs". They are then |
| storms after Arlington and attempts to return the | | | | stopped by a man in a Santa Claus uniform, ringing a |
| million, but Arlington drives off. | | | | bell. As the two men are trying to figure out what is |
| A 911 call is shown, where someone has been shot. | | | | going on, they are hit by a large truck. |
| The police enter the house and find a woman shot | | | | We then see Arthur emerge from a NASA |
| through the heart, and a little girl locked in the | | | | warehouse, which has been surrounded by military. |
| bathroom upstairs. | | | | He is taken away and told by his NASA friend that |
| Arthur and Norma then attend a wedding rehearsal | | | | everything that happens next will have great |
| dinner, where Arthur is instructed to select a present | | | | ramifications. Arthur and Norma return home and see |
| from a table. A student of Norma's, the one who | | | | Arlington in their kitchen. He informs them they face |
| prompted her to reveal her disfigurement, holds up | | | | two final options. Their son, Walter, is now deaf and |
| two fingers to Arthur. Arthur then sees a box much | | | | blind. They can either live on with their million dollars, |
| like the one left on their doorstep, with the button in | | | | and their disabled son, or Arthur can shoot Norma |
| it, and chooses that one. He and Norma find a poor | | | | through the heart, at which point Walter's sight and |
| quality picture of Arlington inside. | | | | hearing will be restored and the million will be placed in |
| Norma's sister tells Arthur that the student Arthur | | | | a high interest bank account for Walter. |
| saw was the one who made fun of his wife's foot. | | | | We learned earlier in a warehouse full of startled |
| Arthur meets and asks Norma's dad (who is a police | | | | people, when Arlington's minion questioned him, that |
| officer) to run the license plate number of Arlington's | | | | Arlington's employers are testing the human race to |
| car. Norma receives a phone call (she is informed by | | | | see if they are worth keeping. |
| a waiter whose nose begins to bleed as he's leading | | | | Arlington leaves, telling Norma and Arthur on his way |
| her to the phone). It is Arlington, who scolds her for | | | | out that their son is in the bathroom, locked upstairs. |
| allowing her husband to make contact with the police | | | | The two of them run upstairs and try to get him |
| (Arlington somehow knows Arthur has spoken to | | | | out, but cannot. They decide that they must make a |
| Norma's father). Arthur angrily approaches the | | | | choice, and Norma leads Arthur downstairs. Arthur |
| student from Norma's class and yells at him for | | | | then shoots Norma through the heart, and runs |
| making fun of Norma. He then storms out of the | | | | upstairs to find Walter. Walter is passed out on the |
| party, with Norma following him. As they start their | | | | floor, and does not respond. Soon the police arrive, |
| car, they see "No Exit" (the title of the Sartre play | | | | having been called about the gunshot. Walter wakes |
| they went to see earlier) written into the frost on | | | | up and calls out, as Arthur is lead out of the house. |
| their windshield. | | | | While this is happening, we see another couple make |
| When they get home, Arthur takes their babysitter, | | | | the decision to push the button. As Arthur leaves, |
| Dana, home. Dana had earlier gone down into the | | | | we see Arlington arrive at the new couples house. |
| basement with their son Walter, to see Arthur's Mars | | | | Arthur's NASA friend informs him he and his son will |
| collection. As they are driving, Dana acts strangely, | | | | be taken care of, as Arthur is escorted away by |
| telling Arthur to "look into the light" to solve his | | | | men in uniforms, who put him into a black car before |
| problems. Her nose begins to bleed and she passes | | | | driving off. Arlington, waiting outside and seeing |
| out. Arthur attempts to wake her up and finds her | | | | Walter looking out through the home's window, tips |
| drivers license, which shows her name is not Dana, | | | | his hat to the boy, and the film ends. |