Buried (2010)

Theatrical Poster

This film is not in the Empire 500.

Buried is the events of a man that finds himself buried alive in a wooden box.

Paul Conway (Ryan Reynolds) awakens in the pitch black. He has been buried alive in a coffin and has nothing but a zippo lighter and mobile phone.

He frantically makes a few phone calls to the American emergency services recalling the events leading up to his premature burial - he was an American truck driver who was captured in Iraq and is now being held hostage.

Paul must try to find his way out before the oxygen in his box depletes, the battery in his phone depletes and his chance of survival... is zero.


For a film that is effectively Ryan Reynolds in a box, it makes bold claims on the front of the DVD box; "Electrifying", "Compelling", "Remarkable", "Gripping", "Brilliant" and "Terrific". Surely the world has gone mad, right?

Wrong. Ryan Reynolds in a box is all that, plus more.

It is not often that a film that tries something dramatically different comes to the fore. Cloverfield is one such example. Buried is another. In order for a film that scrawls these review remarks to stand up to them, the protagonist must make the audience empathise with their plight. Ryan Reynolds portrayal of Paul's dilemma is simply outstanding.

From start to finish, Reynolds makes the film. His variety of emotion and the speed as to which he is able to change beautifully sums up the entirety of the situation. While the dark humour may only draw a snigger in the circumstances, it only allows Reynolds to show another side to a wonderfully created protagonist.

A lot of thought has gone into developing the character of Paul. It would quite easily have been possible to create a film that shows a man drowning in his own sweat trying to force the lid from his crate, but the depth that is created from a few telephone calls is divine.

Of course the film has a few niggles. A couple of moments where the camera pans out into an impossible position seems as though director Rodrigo Cortés is time-filling. This though is then quickly forgotten as Paul's situation is once again realised.

You need to see this.