The Box

In 1976, Norma Lewis teaches at a private school and her husband Arthur works as an engineer for NASA. They live a comfortable but strained life in the suburbs with their young son, Walter, when a stranger named Arlington Steward arrives at their door. Steward, whose face is badly disfigured, leaves them a wooden box fitted with a single red button. He explains that pressing it will bring them one million dollars, but that the money comes at a price: somewhere in the world, a person they do not know will die. The couple has twenty-four hours to decide, and the choice they make sets off consequences that reach well beyond their own household.

Richard Kelly wrote and directed the film, his third feature after Donnie Darko in 2001 and Southland Tales in 2007. Cameron Diaz and James Marsden play Norma and Arthur, with Frank Langella as Steward and Sam Oz Stone as Walter; the production credits 84 cast members and 338 crew. Made for a budget of 30 million dollars, it took in about 33 million worldwide. Audience response has been modest and closely matched across platforms: on IMDb it holds 5.6 out of 10 from roughly 98,000 votes, and on TMDB 5.6 out of 10 from a much smaller pool of about 1,945 votes. Critics were slightly less positive, giving it 5.3 out of 10 across 152 reviews.